


A Wraith's Wail

by Theblack_swanqueen



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2020-09-02 23:27:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20254219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theblack_swanqueen/pseuds/Theblack_swanqueen
Summary: Wraith has no intention of actually winning the Apex Games. A sport is not important to someone who has nothing to lose. But despite her oddities, Wraith is still human, and humans can't help but flock to one another.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This just be some thoughts I'm stringing together into what I hope will be a fun story. :)

Out there are answers. 

The horizon shimmered with heat and light as the sun angled high over the ocean inlet. A hooded figure dressed in dark clothes sat on the edge of the pier. Her clothes had seen better days, worn and tattered from a life that hadn’t belonged to her. The larger holes she’d stitched up herself.

Out there.

The Voice chimed again. Though it wore her own tone it felt like someone else entirely. 

Flinching and waving her hand across her face in a dismissive manner, she quited the Voice for the moment. Pale eyes turning back to the islands that the water surrounded. Asking the locals about them turned up that the islands used to be old research facilities in their past life. But now they were used for more... entertaining business. 

“What sort of business?” she’d asked. 

The merchant merely scoffed at her before pointing at one of the flickering electronic posters on the far wall. At first it was just some drink advertisement, then a bright red banner drifted past screaming “Apex Games”. When she just gave him a raised eyebrow from behind her sunglasses he explained that it was a blood sport, an arena battle to the top dogs. You started with nothing, and ended with everything if you survived. 

The merchant went on to talk about the prize money and his favorite legend but by then the young woman had lost interest and walked away. 

A cool breeze wafted over her face, the water lapping at the support poles below. 

The air was filled with buzzing. But their energy was not infectious, the Voice was not allowing her any peace until she did something about getting to those islands.  
What did break her train of thought was a loud roar of engines as several ships took off from the nearby air strip. They flew directly to the islands. 

The air hummed and then snapped as a red wall of light collapsed around the island. People in their work stalls all stopped staring at the sky line and went to the nearest holo screen.  
The stranger took the moment of commotion to reach into someone’s bag, grabbed a bunch of currency and then slipped calmly away. 

It hadn’t been a pleasant journey to this place, stowing away in a freighter was not comfortable. But when you woke up with nothing you had the courage to deal with everything.   
Using the small bit of change she’d managed to steal, she bought some food and with nothing to do at the moment she settled at one of the tables where one of these games was being watched by the whole restaurant.   
The loud and rambunctious crowd was a wonderful break from the Voice. When there was a lot of talking it tended to fade to the back of her mind. 

The town’s people had stomachs of iron to accept a blood sport as their afternoon entertainment. They drank it up, cheering and screaming. Slamming their cups against the tables and shoving their friends around.   
It took more asking around in the darker corners of this already questionable city. You couldn’t ride a boat, the animals were too savage. The airspace was patrolled and only allowed the games craft to fly through. It seemed that the only way to get to where the Voice demanded, was to join the games itself. 

The recruiter nearly jumped out of his skin when he realized she was standing next to him. 

“I want in the royale.” She said.

That was all he needed to hear. The games were always looking for new blood. People joined in high hopes to be the Apex Predator and bask in the fame and money. 

“What’s your name?” The recruiter asked.

She pressed her lips together.

He chuckled, “You seen the games, a stage name will suffice, kid.”

She wanted to be mad but she didn’t even remember her own age.

“Wraith. You can put down Wraith.” It fit, as elusive as her past.

The large man nodded and finished inputting her information in, what little she’d managed to cobble together. It was easy to lie when you had no past. 

It actually felt nice, to call herself something even if it didn’t sound normal. 

“Alright... Wraith.” The recruiter finished his paperwork, “Report to our medical facilities in two days when the games are over.”

“Wait... why?”

He chuckled, “You don’t think we make a sport with dead people do you? You need to be properly checked and implanted with the technology for the arena before you’re allowed to compete.”

“Is it... invasive?”

He lifted up the data pad with her information on it, “Listen kid, do you want in or not.”

She pressed her pale lips together and nodded. This was enough for him to drop the subject. He gave her an invitation card which would later be replaced by a keycard so that she could come and go freely once she became official. It was a nice thing about the Frontier, it policed itself even if it wasn’t the most kind place to be. For the most part it was quick and to the point.  
Wraith carefully tucked the invitation inside the inner pocket of her coat.

Wraith stepped back out in to the fresh air, taking off her sunglasses in a rare moment to enjoy the sun on her face. All she needed was access to the island, the royale meant nothing to her.  
“Wraith.” She said softly. 

The Apex Games cycled every month it seemed, giving the competitors time to recuperate from their injuries. Wraith hoped that she wouldn’t have to experience much of the fighting, if any. All she needed was access to the old computers in the arena itself. 

Ever since the IMC had fallen a number of their facilities had either been destroyed or taken over to suit other purposes. The different factions showed how loyal they truly were to the IMC with how quickly they changed their ways of living. Wraith did not miss the facility she’d woken up in.

Shivers ran up her spine at the memory and she quickly suppressed them. Shaking her hand as a small jitter of sparks crackled along her skin. The threads of her sleeve darkened where they’d been burnt.   
“Enough.” She muttered to herself. There was no time to get nervous. It was time to prepare.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Felt a bit all over the place with this one... but eh I post things before I get to nervous to post them. C:
> 
> Kudos and comments appreciated!

The nice thing about the Arena being and island was that it was close to water. When Wraith wasn’t doing research or finding food, she could go to a secluded beach and clean herself off. The young woman made an effort to scrub herself and her clothes clean, if for anything to make herself feel better about the medical procedure she would have to endure. Keeping her hands busy, she managed to steal a modest amount of credits to hold her down. Never stealing in the same place twice and going as far as giving a friendly smile to the locals. 

Though she avoided any conversation about herself, the people were excited to hear that she would join the games. Some scoffed, probably because she was so short compared to most people, but that didn’t bother Wraith that much. Unless she was trying to reach something on the top shelf in a store. Otherwise being small kept her away from most eyes.

Finally the ships returned from the island and it was time for Wraith to go to her appointment. The facility in question was a well kept and bright place on the edge of the city. With armed guards at the door.  
At first they looked at her like they were going to turn her away but she showed them her invitation. This earned her a shrug and one of them took the invitation and put it in a slot on the door. The light lit up green.

“Good luck.” He said, with no hint of sarcasm. 

Immediately inside was a neat but plain reception area. The person behind the desk had her invitation in hand and gestured for her to come with him. 

A few questions and some typing into a computer later the receptionist handed her a white card with a large red and white chip on the end.

“Don’t lose it, Wraith.” He said before opening the next door for her with a press of another switch, “You’ll need it to come in and out. Once you have successfully completed a few of the games you’ll start having access to benefits besides the medical facilities.”

“Ok.” Wraith replied flatly. While a soft bed sounded nice that’s not what she was there to earn.

She was sent to her next stop which was a room filled a bunch of sterile tools and people wearing scrubs of different colors. 

Her heart stopped her at the door. Flickers of terror and rage making making her blood run cold. The bed suddenly had tethers, the doctors looked at her as a number. Something to be used up and tossed away. Were these people any different than those in the asylum?

“Hey...”

Someone snapped their fingers in front of her face, bringing her back to the present.

“Are you alright?” The one speaking was a dark skinned, red haired woman with an accent that Wraith didn’t recognize.

“What?” Was all she could muster up. Hoping that she hadn’t made as much of a surprised jump as she felt she had.

“I asked if you are alright.”

“Yes. Yes I’m ok. Thanks.” Wraith responded flatly. 

The other woman didn’t seem convinced. Her arm was in a makeshift sling, clothes dirty and torn up. An equally tarnished drone hovered after her at hip height. She was greeted with smiles and humorous sneers, a few making some comments about ‘not winning’. 

A Legend it sounded like. 

Wraith gave one of the doctors her card and they escorted her away. 

On the way out she caught the Legend’s words even though she was on the quiet side.

“She won’t last an hour in dat arena...”

Wraith gritted her teeth and took a deep slow breath. 

The next few hours she didn’t remember much of. She just found random things to fixate on that kept her in the present. Only one part stuck out in her mind and that was when the doctors gave did a full body scan of her. Their brows furrowed and the results and many quiet words were exchanged. This caused her body to perspire lightly, heart thumping up in her throat. It really hadn’t occurred to her that her affiliation with the other world might show up under regular medical scanners.

After enduring a lot of unwanted poking and prodding, Wraith finally sat alone in one of the side rooms awaiting the final results of her exam. They seemed to be looking for healthy combatants, a sick gladiator made for poor entertainment on the net. 

The Voice lurked somewhere just underneath her thoughts. It always managed to show up when she was high strung, fingers gripping the edge of her seat like if she let go gravity would reverse and she’d smack into the ceiling.  
It said nothing. 

Good. She wasn’t in the mood to listen at the moment. Her right arm hurt from the blood samples they took. Her body felt tired, like she’d just ran a marathon when really she’d just been fighting her huge urge to run away from the medical wing. But here she was, unstrapped, not being stared at by a bunch of dark eyes and listening to them scribble notes.

Her arms and hands started tingling when she recalled the legends words about her survivability. Face turning warm with anger.

What was worse was that she couldn’t remember if she was a fighter at all... just that she knew what she had to do.

“You are an interesting patient, Miss Wraith.” 

The doctor came in with his chart, but Wraith took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

“You’re healthy, if a bit under fed. We can help with that here.”

Wraith consciously unclenched her teeth, “That’s it?”

“Yes.” He pushed the holographic information to one side, “Other than your strange energy signature, which we’ve made note of. It’s not going to disqualify you from entering.”

“It’s.... not?”

“Miss Wraith, you are not the first strange person to come through the royale. I think you’ll fit quite at home.” He pressed a few buttons and loaded something onto. Her card and handed it back to her. Went on to explain what she did have access to before and after the games.

Wraith barely listened, she just wanted out so she could breath. The walls were suffocating. 

At last she was released from her briefing and ran outside of the clinic.

The shadows had grown long outside but the deep gulp of air she took in filled her body with much needed oxygen. Her anxiety ebbed away as she focused on the smells of water, concrete and iron. A faint smell of fish to touch it all up. 

She took in all of the sensations from the breeze on her face to the hard path under her feet and the fading heat from the sun. Finally she opened her pale eyes to see the small city before her.

Now Wraith was convinced that she wasn’t back in the asylum anymore. 

When her heart finally stopped beating rapidly she took notice of a group of people leaving the facility. Most of them were smiling and talking to each other with a lot of energy. She recognized the red head among them, talking to a very large dark skinned man who sounded too happy to be a soldier yet here he was. Nobody noticed her.

It was better that way. Wraith wasn’t planning on staying long enough to get to know anyone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Behold! New chapter! It didn't come out the way I expected it to... but then again when does life ever.

Nothing prepares you for your first drop into the Apex Arena.

The back of the ship hissed open, light and air flooding the small ships compartment where Wraith and the other two competitors waited. At one point in the ships life it had dropped soldiers and emergency supplies, now repurposed for the blood sport.

One by one the loadmaster came to each of them and double checked the small boosters on them, making sure they were secure. He gave them all a thumbs up. 

“Arena wall powering up.” 

Wraith heard the voice loud and clear through the comm unit they’d given her, a very subtle earpiece that attached just behind her ears. They would also be able to hear about major changes in the game.  
Outside there was a loud static burst, causing the hairs on her body to stand on end. The ship and her crew had a built in protection to it so they could exit and enter freely.

The loadmaster looked over the edge of the walk ramp at the island below, “Alright gladiators, drop when ready.”

Wraith gave her ‘partners’ a side long glance, they hadn’t been very responsive to even a friendly greeting. In fact they seemed more intent on just talking with each other. That was fine with her.  
Without another word she ran toward the opening and dove into the bright sun.

The glare left her eyes and the island sprawled out in all its glory before her. A rainbow of smoke trails fanned out from all the drop ships all racing down. 

Wraith’s heart stopped in her throat for a moment, she spread out her body to slow her fall just a bit, boosters adjusting to her angle automatically. She wasn’t afraid of heights, but this was a tremendous amount of height between her and the ground.

Focus. The Voice said firmly.

She swallowed her moment panic and started to comprehend the island’s details. The voice had no guidance as to where she should land so she was on her own. Wraith would need to find a place that used to house tech and maybe, just maybe an old computer was still functional somewhere.

There, what appeared to be an old artillary bunker looked promising. Taking in a deep breath she adjusted her angle and dove to catch up in speed.

Her heart raced again before she hit the ground but the alarms went off in her rig and she pulled up in time to slow her speed and hit the ground with just enough grace to not break her ankles. Shots fired off in the distance, but it appeared that no one else had landed where she had. 

There was no reason not to arm herself at this point. 

Still catching her breath from her drop, Wraith ran to the nearest crate and opened it up, finding some energy based shields and a fully automatic pistol. The grip felt comfortable in her hand. Wraith wondered for just a second if this was a memory from an old life. Most likely not though, the only thing she had of her old life was the Voice. 

Right?

The old bunker had seen better days. The only changes being the sections where they ported in loot in random locations for the gladiators to find. Weather had worn away a lot of paint and rounded off corners of concrete. Wraith could see where the past owners had gutted useful parts out of places and buildings. Most of the stuff for the Arena itself was obvious, marked with a light or bright paint that was renewed on occasion. The bins were kept free of creeping plants to stay functional. 

It had rained during the night so puddles were all over the concrete, the summer sun making her clothes and hair stick to her skin very quickly. 

Wraith took a moment to hide in a doorway’s shadow to get her bearings and regain her composure. 

Nothing stirred around her.

The puddles she’d ran through smoothed out.

Gunfire she’d initially heard was in the sector next to her but seemed to be going further away.

“Ok... ok... I got this.” She whispered to herself. 

Going deeper into the repurposed ruin, Wraith found her way inside of the facility which appeared to be half buried in the mountain. 

The inside was scarred with bullet wounds and explosive scars probably from grenades. Every few feet she could see where computers and other equipment had been ripped out. Wires stripped and information lost to time and plundering. 

Then she saw it, partway into the mountain a wall that appeared to have been placed there more recently. Preventing deeper access into the facility. 

Wraith examined it closer, seeing that it was fresh cement poured to fill the tunnel and then painted over to blend in. There was no way she was going to pound her way through it with her bare hands. Remembering some grenades she’d passed over in the crates outside. Wraith ran back out into the misty sunlight. 

An alarm sounded. 

The ring was on the move. 

Heart stopping in her chest she pulled out her holographic map that they’d provided and saw that the ring was going to close over her position if not this turn, then the next. Quickly she ran over to one of the crates and found some grenades.

A crow startled out of the bushes near her, causing her to gasp in surprise. It landed on a nearby wall. Eyeing her, it cawed a few times like it was offended. 

“Stupid...” Wraith growled under her breath before running back inside. There she armed the handful she’d found and tossed them all at once toward the wall. 

Before they even hit the concrete, Wraith dove for cover behind another wall just in time to feel the shockwave punch through her chest and a shower of dust and stone carpeted the hallway.

Dizzy until her ears stopped ringing, Wraith came back to her senses to find that four grenades had merely cracked the wall in half.

Grunting in frustration she reached for the now broken cement and started pulling out piece after piece. Her hands started to become cut and bloody from the effort but she ignored the pain.

Finally a larger piece stopped resisting her pull and scraped her face on the way down. She only just managed to avoid having her feet crushed. Wiping the sweat and dirt away from her face with her sleeve, she shined a light into the hole.

Hope was a difficult thing to have in life. 

It gave you energy when there was nothing... a reason to go on even when you didn’t see one.

And here is where hope... and the Voice... let her down like a rock in a pond.

Though darkness consumed the last half of the room, the front told her that it had been stripped of anything useful ages ago. Dust covered the floor in a neat layer except where debri had fallen from her scramble.

A scream was rising in her throat.

GET DOWN.

Wraith dropped into a crouch just in time to avoid a knife being imbedded into her back. 

Without pausing to look who was behind her she bolted down a side tunnel. The shadow followed her with an easy pace. To her dread she heard another set of footsteps somewhere else but she currently had to worry about the person hot on her heels.

She finally came upon a door and managed to slam it shut just before her pursuier reached her. The doors for the game were had bullet resistant glass in them so you could see in either way. The person on the other side sent a shiver down her spine as it wasn’t a face that stared back at her but a masked individual. Ornaments dangled from their helmet, eyes gleaming to match.

This person could’ve easily shot her at this point... they must be trying to take her down quietly. 

The stranger tilted their head, realizing Wraith wasn’t going to budge from the other side of the door. So they stepped back... and kicked the door as hard as they could on the center panel. The glass fractured into several pieces. Wraith realized that the door wasn’t meant to be indestructible. What good was entertainment if people just hid everywhere. 

Not sure what to do, Wraith ran before the door busted open.

When she rounded the corner she slammed on her breaks to find another person standing there waiting for her.

“Yeah... that’s Bloodhound if you didn’t know... she’s a bit creepy.” The bearded fellow chuckled, “You must be new, I’m Mirage by the way... you’ve probably seen me in the feeds.”  
She pulled out her pistol shot him... except instead of a crumbling man in pain it disappeared in a mist of electric particles. Her blood tinkled in response.

“Where’s the rest of your team by the way... you’re awfully alone.” 

The same voice asked but from a different angle. 

“You lack focus andskoti.” Bloodhound said, calmly making their way toward Wraith, “This is not a place for exploring, but for fighting.” She... or he... Wraith couldn’t really tell... pulled another knife from their belt, twirling it between their fingers, “You do not belong here.”

Mirage appeared from behind his partner... but also back in his original place. Wraith’s heart was racing, hands trembling to match. The Voice was muttering just underneath her thoughts. Her skin was starting to prickle with electricity, the call of the other world becoming louder in her ears. Shadows were all around... this Mirage fellow was everywhere. Which one was real?? Where could she go??

Mirage leaned against the wall and frowned at Bloodhound, “Don’t do that.”

They tossed the knife one more time, “It’s quiet and clean.”

“But too slow. Don’t let the new girl suffer.”

“You are too soft, vinur.”

Wraith bolted while they were talking, expecting to run right through the illusion behind her but instead slammed right into a real body, toppling the surprised man over into a tangled heap. They both wrestled for a moment but Mirage was simply stronger than her, eventually manipulating her into a hold with her back to him. She kicked and screamed, demanding to be released. 

Bloodhound walked up to them knife in hand, “It is time.” They said.

“Bloodhound I said no!”

The last thing she remembered was Mirage grabbing her head and chin.

Darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having seen the clip of Wraith's past I... am actually very excited. Especially for fanfiction writing because it offers so many different ways to tell Wraith's story. Alrighty... posting this before i get too nervous! Enjoy!

Everyone’s dance with death had different steps than others. 

Nothingness, a thing some people might call peaceful.

But it is not, it is a chasm of emptiness in your emotions, a void that the body didn’t know how to handle. A human was flesh, bone and nerves. It had to feel. 

Struggling against the void, Wraith tried to fight the fall. Or was she flying? No she was trapped. A scream rose up in her but it wasn’t able to release. Memory was not a thing here, it didn’t matter. Yet truth pressed up against her like two walls trying to smash her to nothing. 

A voice... no several voices whispered on the edge of her consciousness. She scrambled blindly. Going one way they got quieter, go the next the got louder. Whether it was up or down backwards or flipping three times direction did not matter except toward the voices.

Wraith became aware of a heaviness, a grip on her mind that she could couldn’t resist. The closer she got to the voices the harder she struggled.

At last Wraith opened her eyes and gasped for air like she’d been drowning. 

“Wraith, do you know where you are?” A nurse asked.

At first Wraith didn’t see the Apex badge on her suit, she tried to jump up but all she could manage was a meager flail which the nurse easily caught her arms.

“Wraith, please be calm, and tell me the last thing you remember.” The nurse said firmly.

Her mind raced, she wanted to talk about the dream she’d just had... but the memory was quickly fading so quickly.

“Wraith?”

“Arena.” She cleared her throat, “I was in the Arena last I remember. I got ambushed...”

The nurse nodded, “Good.” She shined a light into Wraith’s pale eyes, “Regeneration is often disorienting the first time... it’s a great sign you’re this coherent so soon.”

“When can I leave?” Wraith asked.

“When you can prove to me that you can stand without help. Your neck got snapped we have to make sure your spine is proper.”

Determined to get out of the hospital, Wraith swallowed a lot of nausea and forced herself to put up with the tests that she demanded to be done that very day. The nurse, who’s name was Erica, watched her with a critical eye as the young woman stood strong, the only things giving her away was the beads of sweat rolling down her forehead and shallow breathing.

Wraith watched as Erica marked something in her notes, “I’m going to give you some strong painkillers, take them sparingly... and no gymnastics till we check you for the next game.” 

“Thank you.” Wraith was genuine about it, believing that at least Erica noticed her discomfort about being in the hospital. Her wounds were a nuisance yes, but they didn’t bother her as much as the facility did. 

Getting dressed was a bit of a chore since her neck was super stiff. Erica encouraged her to stretch gently every day. While the regeneration recovered people from fatal wounds, it still wasn’t perfect. Wraith just carried her bag by hand instead of trying to sling it around her shoulders. 

The banners around the city flashed the winner of the Apex Games this time around, it showed that Bloodhound, Mirage and a robot that she didn’t know the name of. 

Seeing them made a painful lump rise in her throat. Remembering the very very empty room she’d broken in to. Empty and dark like her memories before the asylem.

It was only one part of a very large island. Perhaps elsewhere...

Wraith shook her hopes aside. Right now she was in no mood for hope. Hope had gotten her humiliated and nowhere.

“No thanks to you.” She said out loud to the Voices. They didn’t even bother to surface.

The port city was starting to light up as the night crept upon them. It was going to be a very uncomfortable night, she didn’t have enough credits to afford a hotel. Maybe she could find a cheap hostel that wasn’t too infested with strange people.

Well... stranger than her.

Suddenly her stomach protested loudly at her. Reminding her very strongly that she couldn’t remember when she’d had her last meal.

“Right... food... THEN a place to sleep.” She gritted her teeth and massaged her neck.

After walking around for a good hour she found a small out of the way restaurant that was built underneath a set of apartments. The host was taking her to her booth when suddenly a familiar voice shouted, making her cringe.

“Hey noobie!”

It was Mirage, sitting at a table with several people she recognized in passing. 

“You sure recovered quick, good on ya!” A dark skinned woman in the corner smirked.

“Ah... would you like to sit with your friends?” The host asked.

“They’re not my-.”

“Yes! Yes she does want to sit with her friends.” Mirage grabbed her wrist before she could say no and sat her down next to him.

He took a drink, “Well you know me, that’s Bangalor, Lifeline and this big guy is Gebraltar.” He nudged her ribs gently, “I never got your name.”

“Uh...”

“It’s Wraith, I heard my friends in the infirmary say it.” Lifeline snorted, plucking some tatertots off of the plate of appetizers.

The red haired woman smirked at the newcomer, “Hour and a half, you proved me wrong noobie.” 

“Made the classic mistake of going off on your own.” Bangalore snorted in distaste, “You shouldn’t abandon your team mates like that. They need to know they can rely on you.”

Wraith thought about just getting up and leaving. Something she wasn’t above doing but the smell of food kept her seated. It was the main reason she’d come after all. Except that she didn’t want to talk to anyone... let alone these seniors of the games.

Gebralter chuckled heartily, “Cat got your tongue, Wraith? We don’t bite... well.. these two ladies might... but we don’t.” He jerked his thumb over at his friends, Lifeline made a sound of protest while lightly punching him in the shoulder. The man was so large and muscular but he feigned pain dramatically, “See??” 

Wraith found herself cracking a smile but quickly suppressed it.

Abruptly she noticed Mirage just looking at her with a smile on his face. She quickly looked away.

“Hey... no hard feelings?” He offered her a drink, “I’m sorry... it’s just... I’ve been bled out by Bloodhound before and frankly... I wanted to spare you that experience.”

Wraith looked up, “Really?”

“Yeah... ultimate feeling of helplessness.”

“In my real work I seen those wounds... it’s not pretty. So I get ya.” Lifeline shuddered. 

Wraith accepted the offered drink.

“So... what bring ya to the games little sister?” Gebralter asked. 

“Uh... personal reasons.” 

“Ugh... personal reasons... should do it for the fame... the glory... although you couldn’t top my good looks.” 

“Please, you’re all talk and no teeth.” Bangalore sneered. Wraith couldn’t tell if she was joking or sincere. 

“Excuse me this toothy smile is currently all over the city soooo.... who’s got no teeth now.” Mirage smirked while waggling his eyebrows at the other Legend. 

For every excuse Wraith tried to bring up to leave, the group found a convenient way to keep her seated with them. They didn’t seem to mind that she didn’t talk much. Compared to several other competitors she’d come across, these Legends seemed very laid back. The two that had been on her team had been talking strategy the entire time until jump. Later she learned they’d went down almost immediately. The Apex Games were certainly unforgiving.  
It was also pleasant, just listening to them talk and laugh. Wraith hadn’t felt warmth like this since.... ever.

‘It’s artificial... these are all your competitors. They’re sizing you up.’ A sneaky thought struck from a dark corner in her mind. Not the Voice at all, just a dark thought. 

A lot of food and drinks passed by the table, Wraith barely had to put in any money at all with how generous they were being. It was specifically their generousity that made her uncomfortable. Why would anyone be kind to stranger...

Mirage nudged her out of her thoughts, “Listen... noobie... if you want help we’re offering.” 

She blinked in surprise, “Why?” Wraith didn’t mean to sound rude but it just came out like that.

Bangalor blew out smoke from the cigarette she’d lit a few minutes ago, “I’d take the offer if I were you... not everyone who gets to the games are ready for them.”

Wraith remained quiet for a moment. The fact that she’d found nothing in that one section had really hit her hard. Yet, there were plenty of different areas to search. It wasn’t a small island after all.  
When she straightened up her neck stiffened, Bloodhound’s glowing eyes on the other side of the door, her scuffle with Mirage came back to mind.

“I... maybe. I’m sorry.” Searching the island was all she had. Wraith had nowhere else, no bearing to go on when it came to figuring out who she was or what had happened to her. 

“Well... de offer is on the table noobie.” Lifeline said, “It’d be funny to watch you kick Mirage’s ass like everyone else.”

“Whoa... whoa now.” Mirage squinted his eyes at his friend, “Who’s the winner of this last game?”

“Pure fuckin’ luck!”

“Sometimes it’s better to be lucky.” Mirage winked at Wraith who quickly looked away. She tried to focus on something else, something smelled sweet and clean in the air here. Unlike the normal musty bar smell she usually encountered. It made her feel very comfortable.

“I should go.”

“Awww already?” Mirage said.

“Yes... thank you... for inviting me over. I... yes thank you.” Wraith felt her face warm up with embarrassment. She’d never been so bad with her words until now. Perhaps it was because she was used to just a wall. Everyone had a wall, no kindness or anything. That’s all she’d experience since waking up in the asylum were barriers of different varieties.

Without another word she set down some of her money to pay for her portion and then slipped out of the booth.

Outside the night had finally taken over the sky. The low rumble of the city were tucked away into the deep alleys and dimly lit houses. Wraith felt good, food in her belly and... for once a pleasant conversation. 

Even if they were sizing her up.

A cold breeze blew off of the water, reminding her that it was time to sleep for the night.

“Hey! Wait up noobie!”

It was Mirage.

He ran up to her with an amused look on his face. The sweet clean smell filled her nose.

“Don’t be a stranger.” He held up something.

It was her back pack.

Pressing her lips together while staring at it, she took it and muttered a thank you. Wraith hoped her face wasn’t as red as it felt, especially now that she knew that good smell was him.  
Thankfully he didn’t say anything as she walked briskly away. 

Later when she was sitting on a cot ready to go to sleep, she took out her bag and opened it to grab some toiletries. 

At the very top of her things was a yellow communication key. Wraith frowned, picking it up to examine it in better light. Yes it was just a card with a comm number on it... presumedly Mirage’s. 

Heat crept up her face so she quickly stuffed the card away. 

Wraith suddenly felt the agitation rise up in her chest. The uncertainty of the Legend’s motives, her own future especially.

That night she dreamt of nothingness trying to swallow her up.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason this scene was eating me up before I could get on with the story. Hope y'all enjoy! Kuddos and comments appreciated!

There was nothing more frustrating than feeling the need to run but also wanting to stay to seek answers. A few times Wraith nearly jumped on one of the major cargo ships that was leaving the area. However just when she was about to make the final step the Voice would return. Telling her that she shouldn’t go. 

The next game was almost upon all of the participants.

Wraith had met with the nurse that had let her go early outside of the clinic just for a check up. Erica explained that she didn’t actually have a wound anymore, the best way she could explain it was that it was a ‘ghost wound’. Their technology had fixed them entirely but the trauma of the experience was still very real to the gladiator’s brain. But with time, eventually the ghost wounds ‘faded’. 

“Thank you.” Wraith said as Erica finished checking her neck for any unusual knots in the muscles, “For leaving the clinic.”

“It’s not a huge deal, though, I hope some day you can... unsee whatever you do see in there.” She removed her gloves and tossed them into her bag.

“Hope your next game goes better. I’ll sign you as cleared.”

“I don’t know if I’ll go again.” Wraith looked at the floor.

Erica paused in gathering her things, “Why’s that?”

“... I don’t know.” She was scared.

“Well... I’ll sign you off anyway in case you change your mind.” Erica closed her bag and left the young woman to her thoughts.

If she went back into the arena she would be doing it alone again. Her utter failure at defending herself the first time lingered heavily on her mind. Wraith wasn’t a fighter she just was determined. Though at the moment her determination was shaken. 

“Fuck it.” Wraith finally said to herself. 

The number Mirage had left her remained secure in one of her inner pockets, next to her Apex ID. She ignored its weight and started doing some of her own research and practiced a little more at the shooting range before the launch date arrived. Wraith did notice people avoid her on occasion. Word had spread about her initial abandonment of her first team so she didn’t seem to be a favorite pick.  
That was ok, she didn’t desire attention. 

Wraith dug into her bag and pulled out an item she hadn’t used in a long time. Unwrapping it revealed a black dagger. 

As soon as she placed her fingers around it the edges sparked to life, the light traveling very faintly across her hand.

Loud bangs cracked across her memory, tables crashing and bullets flying. The Voice telling her to defend herself from the scientist trying to get her back under control.

Wraith took in a deep breath, gripping the dagger till her knuckles went white.

The firmness of the hilt in her palm brought her back to the present.

“Ok... let’s... last a little longer this time.”

When she arrived at her assigned ship there were two other team mates waiting with the aircrew. One looked as new and as young as her. The other, was a broad shouldered man wearing what looked like a compact oxygen tank. He had a strangely cut beard that went all around the edges of his chin but kept his mouth clear. He glanced up at her momentarily before returning to tinkering with something she couldn’t see.

The plane’s engine warmed up with a loud whine just before lifting off of the ground. 

When they were closer to the island the large man stood up and handed her a small mask with a filter. She looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

“You’ll need this if you’re going to work with me in the arena.”

She looked at the mask one more time before taking it, “Um... ok?”

“They call me Caustic.”

“Wraith.”

He raised a brow at her but didn’t comment further on names, “Do you know how to wear one of those? Make sure the seal is tight or it won’t help.” He helped both of them measure the straps. The longer they fussed with the masks, the more nervous Wraith became with this man’s presence. She decided to just focus on the upcoming drop, going over all of the little tidbits in her head.

Soon, the loadmasters gave them the signal they were good to go.

You’re second drop out of a jump ship was just as amazing, even more so when you had less fear pumping through your system. Wraith trusted her equipment to take care of her.

Wraith hit the ground running in what was known as Skull Town. Dust flew up underneath scrambling bodies and doors slammed open where people were trying to get the weapons.

This seemed like quite the popular spot to land.

Wraith kicked the back of someone’s foot and jumped over them as they fell, sliding to scrape up a pistol before turning around and capping them in the face.  
Blood spewed everywhere and with no armor to repel the bullets the person died quickly. 

Wraith didn’t have time to throw up because another person was upon her. Now bullets were starting to fly and not just fists. Eyes from three different teams fell upon her.  
Wraith turned and sprinted away.

On the way back to her team mates she gunned down another gladiator before she ran into another problem in the form of Lifeline.

The woman’s face lit up in a wicked grin, “Come on noobie time for training!” She lifted a shotgun and fired.

Wraith ducked just in time, arm burning from some of the pellet spray clipping her arm. 

Lifeline was quick, quicker than Wraith was expecting. Leaping over the box she’d used for cover she fired two more shots at Wraith before she needed to reload again. 

Instead of reloading though she sprinted at Wraith and tried to smack her with the butt end of the shotgun. Instead of blocking Wraith tried to shoot but Lifeline hit her hand, knocking the pistol away.   
Fingers burning, she grabbed the shotgun before Lifeline could strike her again. She was so busy trying to handle the other woman Wraith didn’t register the Voice’s warning.   
An explosion knocked them both apart.

Dust and debri fell over Wraith as a high pitched sound muted the entire world around her. All she could make out were shadows running to and fro. 

Get up!

Even as her head swam in protest, Wraith fumbled up to her hands and knees. Someone was fighting right next to her but she couldn’t bring herself out of the shock fast enough to help.

Abruptly she was grabbed and something was pressed up against her face. Wraith screamed in panic as her breath quickly left her lungs.

“Stop squirming and take slow breaths.” Caustic’s rough voice commanded in her ear. 

Wraith followed his instructions, her sight slowly returning to her. A green haze covered them. 

“Get up.” Caustic injected her with a needle, the pain in her body became distant. 

Another explosion went off.

“We have to move!”

The two sprinted through one building after another picking up scraps on the fly. Wraith heard more booms behind them as the strange gas leaked out of every window and door. Screams of fear filled the air.  
It was hard enough to breath through the masks filter, let alone run as well. Her lunges burned with effort, trying to claim every bit of oxygen it could through the charcoal.   
When they finally found a moment to pause in the chaos, Wraith pulled off the mask and let it hang around her neck so she could gulp air freely.

“What... what was that?”

“That saved your life.” Caustic opened a nearby crate to see what was inside, “Luckily Lifeline took the brunt of that grenade, or I wouldn’t have been able to retrieve you.” He handed her a weapon, Wraith recognized it as the R-99.

“Where’s the other one?”

“Landed too far from us, died because of it.” Caustic replied curtly.

“Shouldn’t we go back for him?” She didn’t mean to but she jumped when she heard another explosion the way they’d come.

“No. Skull Town has been taken, best we move on.” 

Wraith loaded her gun and flinched. She was pretty sure Lifeline had broken her smaller fingers, plus she was bleeding from scraping past the shot. Her injuries hadn’t escaped Caustic’s critical eye.

“I’m fine. I’ll be fine.” She insisted.

The alarm sounded, air crackling with energy as the ring began to shrink.

“If you’re in here for the long haul, you’ll need to be patched up. Let’s move.” He growled.

“Right...” Wraith straightened up and followed the Legend. She recognized him now, in one of the videos she’d watched recently. He hadn’t been in the games recently for some reason.

The gunfire from the initial drops had ceased for the moment. People using the moment of silence to take in their situations and heal. 

Not far off they found a small town that hadn’t been looted yet. The pain meds were starting to wear off and Wraith was really starting to feel the broken bones in her hand. 

Opening up the few crates that were there, Caustic didn’t find what he wanted. He muttered something under his mask before going back to Wraith.

He pulled out some small rods and cloth from his pocket. Wraith gave him her hand when he extended his own and he wrapped her fingers up in a makeshift splint.

“You’re brave to return after such a quick ending in your first game.” He said.

Wraith couldn’t help but roll her eyes, “Does everyone know about that?”

“When Mirage is a champion of the arena everyone knows everything.” Caustic coughed a bit. He looked up at the sky in time to see the ring finally come to a stop.

“Most people stop doing the games after their first failure. Afraid of being humiliated.” 

“Well... there’s not much of me to humiliate really.” Wraith stood up ready to move. 

“So you think you’re a nobody.”

Damn this guy was harsh...

Wraith didn’t say anything, just nodded.

“Doubtful.”

It was Wraith’s turn to be puzzled.

“You didn’t let fear rule you in that fight back in Skull Town, a simple nobody wouldn’t do that.”

“Thank... you?”

Caustic didn’t respond, just kept walking.

They passed a large holographic billboard that showed the champions of the previous games, Mirage, Bloodhound and the robot whose name was Pathfinder. Apparently this team was still alive or the announcer would’ve told them.

They’d wandered to a portion of the map that was still just all desert, dotted with some hills and buildings. Wraith didn’t like how they were in such an open area. She could hear a few fights starting to pop off in the distance. 

Caustic abruptly stopped, causing Wraith to nearly walk right into him. She followed his gaze and saw that someone was sitting injured in the shade of a wall just in front of them. 

It was Mirage.

He was holding a bloodied side, pain wracking his face.

Wraith lifted her gun but stopped when Caustic lifted his hand in a motion to halt.

Carefully his eyes raked the skyline looking for anyone that might be watching. When he seemed satisfied he approached the injured Legend with Wraith close at his heels. 

Mirage looked up when they approached but said nothing, looking too pained to really bother with speech. Wraith remembered the man’s talk about keeping death quick and suddenly felt sorry for him.

“Is your win streak ending today, Mirage?” Caustic asked. 

The injured man just kept staring at Caustic, grim line on his lips.

“Tsk.” Caustic turned away, “Let’s keep moving.”

Wraith looked back and forth a moment. Mirage had closed his eyes and shifted just enough to keep his insides from spilling out, “We can’t just leave him here isn’t that the point of the game? To eliminate each other?” Her heart lurched when Mirage tried to shift his weight and made a yelp of agony.

Caustic whirled around, “Don’t-!”

Wraith shot Mirage in the head but instead of a red mist the thing dissipated into electric dust. A surge of static tickled her body. 

Cursing under his breath Caustic grabbed the surprised Wraith by the arm hard enough to bruise her and threw her on the other side of the wall.

“There’s a reason that man is nick named the Trickster, girl.” He hissed while pulling out a few strange looking canisters from his pouch, “His only weakness with those illusions is distance... the further away he is from them the less personality they have.” He tossed the flat disks into certain corners, as soon as they landed they hissed and blew up into large black bags.

Heat rushing to her face for her foolishness, Wraith dashed into the nearby building in hopes of finding a longer range gun. No such luck, just some stronger armor which she gladly took. 

She was about to turn back to the doorway when the Voice rose up.

SNIPER!

Had Wraith not hesitated in her step, the shot that missed her would’ve decked her right in the temple, instead it pierced through the other doorway, cracking the door in half.

“Never touch those illusions, they mark your location.” Caustic growled from where he was hunkered down outside.

“That would’ve been nice to know in the first place!!” Wraith snarled.

Heart racing, she chose a different place to peek in the direction of the shooter, preferably through a crack in the wall. 

There, at the top of a large tower on the edge of the map a small lump shifted, but it was too small to see who it was.

MOVE!

Where her head had just been now was a large hole from the sniper’s bullet. She coughed as dust got into her mouth from the wall.

“Stay still!” Caustic ordered.

Wraith finished coughing up her lung, “Well... then what do you suggest?! We can’t move!” She checked her holographic map and cursed when she realized they would eventually not be in the zone if they stayed too long.

Something skittered over the top of the wall where Caustic crouched. He didn’t move except to look up.

It was a crow.

Wraith felt her heart start racing again. Her partner carefully caught her attention and tapped his mask then pointed at her. 

Nodding she pulled on her own and tightened the straps.

Something loud hit the top of the roof, metal teeth digging through the material.

Just about at the same time a couple of muffled ‘booms’ filled the air as Caustic’s proximity mines went off somewhere to their right. The crow screamed and took flight.

Crouching low to stay out of the sniper’s view Caustic left his spot to where the explosions happened. A scuffle started to happen, a few wildly shot bullets peppering the walls. 

Before Wraith could run to help she felt something clamp onto her leg and then it was suddenly yanked out from under her and she was dragged a short distance to the feet of a very tall humanoid.

Pathfinder waved at her, belly screen a perky acronym of L.O.L. , “Hi friend!”

A beat later Wraith kicked the robot’s kneecap and scrambled away.

“Ow! That’s not very nice! We just met!” Pathfinder easily closed the gap with his long strides. The young girl whirled around and sprayed her R-99 forcing Pathfinder to respect her space a little better, but instead of facing her though he hooked up to the roof and vanished from sight. 

She took the moment to sprint away to try and help Caustic. The gas had grown thick enough that it was hard to see. Where her skin was exposed it tingled uncomfortably. 

In the center of the cloud a great shadow appeared to be standing over someone. She hesitated, wiping the dust from her goggles. Caustic stood over a choking Bloodhound, not shooting. Just simply watching the Legend suffocate. 

Bloodhound tried to crawl toward their dropped gun but Caustic stepped on their hand and twisted his boot, earning a cry of pain.

“Caustic?” She called.

“He’s kind of an ass hole if you can’t tell.”

Heart leaping out of her throat, Wraith turned to see Mirage standing next to her, no mask, but no response to the stinking cloud that hovered around them. When she looked twice, she noticed a very very small ripple on the illusion. Probably caused by t he gas. 

All of the video that Wraith had seen of Mirage was him very energetic and soaking up the spotlight. His expression was grim this time. 

The illusion walked up to Caustic and placed his hand on the other’s shoulder then vanished.

Caustic whirled around, eyes meeting Wraith’s just in time for his half of his head to explode.

Somewhere between the hiss of canisters Wraith heard a ‘Woohoo!’ In Pathfinder’s voice.

Her mask nearly filled with vomit as the body slumped to its knees. Heart freezing in her chest she stumbled out of the main part of the gas cloud and tore off her mask, weakness taking her legs out from under her  
When her body stopped seizing from its panic, Wraith became aware of someone kneeling next to her. Even hot and sweaty in the desert, she knew by the smell who it was.

“Twice in a row noobie, not looking great.” He placed a hand, a real hand, on her shoulder before straightening up. Behind him, Pathfinder was helping an injured Bloodhound to walk.

Wraith didn’t know what to do, she wanted to ask if Bloodhound was ok but at the same time that was the point of the games, to fight each other. Bloodhound was still heaving, trying to cleanse the gas from their lunges. Miles away from the proudly standing warrior she’d first met.

The ring started to move.

“Let’s go Mirage, we can still secure the high ground.” Pathfinder pulled Bloodhound onto its back and grappled onto the roof where a heavy duty line was attached. He turned back and waved cheerily, “Goodbye friend! Hope to see you later! After we've won of course!”

Mirage started to follow then turned around making a phone signal with his hands, “Call me up newbie.” 

He shot her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did a thing! :)

CHAPTER 6  
Once the regeneration was complete and over with, Wraith was just angry. Angry at everything from her stiff body to the shoe lace she didn’t tie correctly. She left the medical facility much quicker, albeit with a massive headache where Mirage had shot her. The pain meds Erica had given her weren’t doing much either to help her mood either. 

Rain started pouring from the sky as she walked between the city’s alleys. Wraith shifted to the side that had shelter for the moment. The holographic panels showed the winning team, it wasn’t Mirage’s team interestingly enough.

Wraith went thought about her short fight in the arena over and over. Trying to figure out what she could’ve done better.

Well, getting used to the violence of the deaths would be apart of getting better.

She kicked a can down the street, grunting in frustration. The Voice tickled the edge of her inner ears and she shook her head aggressively, pressing her temples to help alleviate the headache pressure.

Instead of saying anything the Voice just chuckled instead.

“Shut up.” Wraith growled. A few people walking briskly by gave her a strange look. Cheeks warming with embarrassment, Wraith pulled her hood over her head and walked away. 

Ever since she’d escaped the asylum the Voice, while a lot less persistent, seemed to have become less harsh in its own.

Overhead the lightening boomed, arcing toward some tall grounding polls. A monsteros howl pierced the sky, followed by another further away. The bass from what ever animals made this sound shook Wraith’s rib cage. A pair of ships flew overhead a few minutes later.

Wraith’s warn out clothes were soaked at this point, and a chill was starting to seep into her skin. She didn’t have enough money for a hostel this time. Only the top five teams got any sort of compensation.

Wanting a bit of warmth, Wraith found the underground bar that she’d stumbled upon. This time when she entered she looked carefully before allowing herself to be showed in. The host gave her wet clothes a little bit of a side eye but didn’t say anything. 

She bought a large hot drink with cream and some sort of local spice to the planet. It reminded her of something, but her memories stretched thin and bare beyond the asylum.   
Her foot accidentally smacked into her pack on the floor. 

Make the call.

Wraith immediately took a sip of her drink to inhale her verbal response to the exasperated Voice. 

“Fine.”

She leaned over and picked out the number that Mirage had left her. The line rung a few times, Wraith didn’t expect to get an answer especially since his team had lost. In fact she hoped he wouldn’t answer.

“Hello?”

No such luck.

“Uh... hi.” Wraith responded.

“Hey noobie! How ya feeling?”

“I mean... considering...”

“Yeah... yeah... sorry about that. You know... gotta win and all.” He coughed.

“Right.” Wraith took a breath, “I need help.”

“Right, help. I can help you with becoming a Legend.”

Somewhere in the background she heard Lifeline yell, “Don’t listen ta him he’s a loser!”

“Least I didn’t go down within the first two minutes!” Mirage yelled back. There was a shuffle of movement, like Mirage was dodging something. A small crash could be heard next.

“Damn she’s got good aim.” Mirage finally said, “I’ll be leaving the medical facility soon, I just woke up. Let’s meet up, we’re doing post game drinking.”

“Uh... we?”

“Yeah... we... it’s our tradition at least.”

“Oh... ok.”

They arranged a time and a place, it would be an hour from now but Wraith didn’t want to show up as drenched as she was so she would go now.

This particular bar was on the other side of the city on the side of the mountain. Part way there, the rain eased up, the clouds spreading out into patches allowing the night sky to peek down at the Frontier city.

Wraith took a moment before going inside to meet the Legends to tidy up her hair and clean up the mud off of her shoes. The holes and thinned fabric from her clothes became painfully obvious to her but it was too late to do anything about it. At least her bad was waterproof enough that she had a second set of clothes. 

Wraith adjusted the scarf around her neck and hit her knife in her boot. Which was a good thing as a bouncer at the door demanded she set her back pack aside.  
Inside it was crowded with people, smoke and music.

Pathfinder made it easy to spot who she needed to find since the robot was easily a foot taller than most humans.   
The liquar was already on the table.

“Heeyyyyy welcome noobie!” Mirage yanked her by the arm into the seat. 

Pathfinder, who was standing up since he didn’t fit into the seats waved with a smilie face on his chest at her, “Hi friend!”

“Uh... hi.” She quickly pushed the image of Caustic’s head exploding out of her mind as best she could.

“We have not been properly introduced!” The robot grabbed her hand and shook it, “My name is Pathfinder. The first time my team met you... I was dead.” He said cheerfully. Or maybe not cheerfully but just... upbeat. Wraith couldn’t tell. His chest was still a smilie face so she assumed the robot was in a good mood.

Lifeline was already pounding a shot down, “Son of a bitch recovering from a grenade hurts.” She gently stretched her arms, shoulders, twisting her torso and then legs. Erica had mentioned movement was good in recovering from the ghost wounds. Subconsciously reminding your mind that you were no longer in danger and hurt. 

“To be honest that’s the worst kind of death in the Arena.” Bangalor took a drag of her cigarette before drinking.

The older woman snorted the smoke out of her nose before jerking her chin toward Wraith, “How do you like it.”

“Like what?”

“The games.” 

“Uh... very quick.”

Mirage chuckled, “Yeah, some games be like that.” He set a glass down in front of Wraith. 

Hesitation kept her at bay from touching it. She just didn’t have any money.

“So... you guys have a career in the Apex Games?”

“Yeah we’ve made it a living... a lot of players drop out though cuz of the whole reg... regents... that one thing.” Mirage took a drink.

“Reee-gen-ar-ray-shun. Ya monkey.” Lifeline snorted.

“You know for a nurse you have bad bed side manner.”

“I’m a combat medic ya twat, we can’t afford bed side manner.” Lifeline sneered, but the amusement was in her eyes. Bangalore just laughed into her shot glass. Wraith noticed that a pair of tags were hanging from the woman’s neck.

“Former military?” She asked, Bangalore noted her eye line.

She blew smoke out up toward the ceiling, “The IMC isn’t exactly an authority anymore these days.” She flicked the ashes into the tray with good practice and didn’t say anything else.

“What about you, Wraith?” Mirage cut into the tension that the ex-soldier had brought up, “Why are you trying to get your foot into the Arena?”

She swallowed a painful lump in her throat.

So she picked up the drink in front of her and drank instead. With her stomach very much empty, it only took a few seconds for the alcohol to reach her blood.

“Ah, don’t worry.” Mirage waved it aside.

“I do have a question though.” Wraith said after she finished coughing, “Why do you offer me help? I’m just a random person you met in the Arena.”

It was Mirage’s turn to swallow the alcohol, “Listen, you want the help or nah? Plus you can hang out with someone cool like me.” He winked. His other compatriots rolled their eyes... or... optical unit. He poured another drink for her.

Her body was starting to warm up to the alcohol, “Well... I guess no reason is as good as any reason?” 

“Good choice!” 

“Then a proper welcome, to the Apex Games noobie.” Lifeline held up her drink and everyone followed suit. 

The second one was easier to consume.

Her belly was growing warm and her head buzzing. Wraith literally couldn’t remember the last time she’d drank alcohol. 

Liquid courage even put a little smirk on Bangalore’s face. Mirage was already already flirting with every girl that passed while receiving a lot of crap and dishing it right back to Lifeline. Wraith only realized how drunk she was when she tried to stand up to go to the bathroom.

Pathfinder caught her by the arm easily, “Careful friend!”

“Nah... I’m ok.” Wraith steadied herself, taking a deep breath. 

“Here I will help you!” Pathfinder basically carried her to where she needed to go. Luckily Wraith didn’t care how ridiculous she looked. She spent a minute in tha small bathroom to wash her face with some cold water. It didn’t really take away how drunk she was, but she felt better. The club was cramped and hot, the alcohol wasn’t helping with that factor. It was pleasantly noisy though, the mashing of voices with music. Heavy bass vibrating her body to distract her from the soreness of the Arena.

Loneliness seemed quite far away here.

When Wraith returned to the table Mirage was on his feet leaning heavily on the booth’s seat and laughing as Bangalor was trying to get Lifeline out.

“Come on ya dip stick!” Bangalor finally yanked the short woman onto her arm, “I told you not to mix!”

“Nah I’ll be fine!” Lifeline chuckled, head lolling heavily like she couldn’t hold it up properly. 

“Tell that to the alley you’re about to vomit in.” The ex-soldier snorted. 

On the horizon a pale light was lining the mountains. Wraith was surprised she’d stayed up this late with them. The fresh rain soaked air smelled of clean concrete and distant jungle. 

“Mirage!” Bangalore barked, startling her fellow Legend out of his whiskey haze.

“What??”

“Be a gentleman for once and escort a lady home.” She jerked her head toward Wraith.

She straightened up, though kept a hand on Pathfinder’s arm, “No no... I’m fine I can make it... home.”

“Nah nah... you’re a future Legend... we gonna make sure you g-get home.” Mirage snapped his fingers and pointed at her with a playful smile. 

Wraith swayed uncomfortably, trying to decide if her urge to vomit was from the alcohol or her embarrassment. Bangalore had already left, dragging Lifeline along who was yelling something in a song like tone.

“Lead the way, friend! Unless you just want to give me the address, then I can do the navigating myself.” Pathfinder said to Wraith.

Wraith rubbed her face and looked away, “I... don’t have anywhere to stay.” She mumbled quietly.

Mirage straightened up a little bit, “What?”

“I have only been living in hostels or wherever is dry.” She kept her eyes on the ground.

“You are homeless. How come?” Pathfinder asked.

“That’s... a good question.” She glanced over at Mirage and was surprised to see that even though he was tipsy, that serious look that she’d seen out in the Arena had returned to his face.

He suddenly walked up and placed his arm around her shoulders, “A’ight... noobie... you can stay with me till you get a win and pay for your own place.” He laughed, “I can’t guarantee a win any time soon... cuz I’m around... but at least you can get close.” 

Wraith wanted to run, this was too much intimacy all at once. Alcohol breath aside he felt warm in the chilly morning air.

“Uh... only till I win?”

“Sure, top five sums are reasonable enough.” 

It certainly would be nice to not worry about where she would have to go for the night, or who might try and attack her in the dark.

She nodded.

“Perfect!” Mirage gave her shoulder a squeeze and went to walk away but tripped over his own feet. Pathfinder calmly caught him by the arm.

Good thin Pathfinder offered to help them get home, because Wraith barely knew how to navigate the main parts of the city, let alone the nooks and crannies of them. 

It was dark when they entered and Mirage didn’t seem too inclined to turn on the lights. This was midigated by the fact that a large picture window was overlooking the city, the nightlife smoldering away as the dawn approached.

The hype of the night was wearing off and Wraith’s body was starting to grow heavy from lack of sleep and the alcohol. Also her headache was returning. 

Something soft smacked into the back of her head, knocking her into the sofa. She turned and saw that it was a blanket.

“Night noobie!” Mirage winked at her before disapearing into his room.

Wraith picked up the blanket and spread it out over the couch, it was the softest thing she had ever slept on. The hostels were warm and dry but bare as far as comforts. 

As soon as she sat down a wave of exhaustion hit her so hard that she barely had enough brain power left to kick off her shoes and climb under the covers.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started thinking too hard on this chapter... so I decided to post it regardless of how janky it feels to me. Gotta get to the good bits!! <3

In that moment you feel like falling, Wraith stiffened and jerked away much to her body’s dismay. Not only did she still have her ghost wound, but now the nights alcohol was catching up. It was dark in the room, and the plushness of the couch made it difficult for her to move. She wasn’t used to sleeping on something soft. Once her eyes adjusted, Wraith stumbled her way into the open kitchen, found the sink and vomited. 

Shuddering from the effort of emptying her stomach, Wraith slid to the floor and waited for the nausea to pass. Once she was steady, she washed away the mess and rinsed her mouth out. The taste of stomach bile never a pleasant thing. 

Now that her immediate problem was fixed, Wraith finally took a moment to look around the apartment. 

It was well kept and clean, a poster hung up on one of the walls of Mirage walking down the aisle of fame that the winners of the arena used. A dining table between the kitchen and where she’d slept was a little messier with odds and ends. 

Wraith glanced around before she realized a slit of light was shining on the far wall. Fumbling around she found a string for the shades and opened it up half way. The room flooded with light, irritating both her headache and eyes.  
Once her eyes adjusted, Wraith examined the object on the table and realized that it was the rig that he used for his illusions. It was much more complex than she expected, and it actually wasn’t just attached to his arms it was a whole body rig. One of the arms had two shattered units and some blood stains on them. She touched the rig just enough to turn it in the light.

The door on the far side of the hall opened up and Mirage stepped out... in nothing but a towel and a phone against his ear.

“No no no just order the last set like I said ok?” He was saying while drying his hair with his free hand.

Startled, Wraith flushed at the sight of his well chiseled chest before retreating back to the couch since she had nowhere else to go. 

“I’ll be in tomorrow... still feel like shit...” Mirage disappeared back into his room. Wraith took a deep breath to calm her fluttering heart. 

She noticed an old fashioned paper photo set in a frame next to her seat. Tilting her head to get a better look, she saw that it was a set of older adults and five young men. Leaning in, Wraith picked out Mirage, a few years younger than he was today.

“Got any siblings?”

Wraith dropped the picture, “Sorry! No. I mean no... I... I don’t.” At least, that’s what she thought.

Mirage smiled and winked at her, he reached over her and picked the frame off the couch, “Well, the Legends can be family sort of. A very disfunctional family.” He set the picture back in its spot before going to the kitchen. He was wearing a tank top that showed off his muscles. 

Wraith used a topic to ignore his physic, “You look young in that picture... where are your family now?”

Mirage paused before taking a sip of water, “That’s a good question.” He drank, “Let’s just say the Frontier War swallowed up a lot of people.” 

“I’m sorry...”

“Yeah well... shit happens right?”

“Yeah... I suppose shit does.”

“Enough about the past though noobie, we’re gonna have to talk about your rent.”

She looked up, “Rent?”

“Yeah.” He glanced back over at her with a devilish smirk on his face, “I know you’re homeless and all, but it still takes electricity to live here.”

Wraith felt her stomach turn and it wasn’t the hangover, “Uh...”

Mirage walked over and leaned in close to her... then booped her on the nose, “When I’m not in the Arena I run a bar... want a job?”

She blinked, “Oh.” She took a breath, “I... This is not what I’d thought helping me with the Games would be like.”

“Noobie we’re just getting started with the help... this is the help that comes from the slow times... in between the Games.” He picked a few pieces off of his broken rig, “So you want a job or nah?”

The idea of not having to steal to get food in her mouth was a pleasant one, so Wraith accepted it tentatively. 

What harm could come from accepting a job from someone nicknamed the Trickster?

The Legend grinned in satisfaction before turning to his ruined device again. He ran a hand through his still went hair and sighed, “Damn they got it good this time... gonna have to suck it up and buy some stronger material.”

Wraith squinted her eyes, “You didn’t think of that in the first place?”

“It’s not like plating that belongs on a Titan is cheap... even in small amounts.” Mirage snorted. 

“Why not make the device more subtle?”

He gave her a glance.

“Right... subtle is not your strong suit.” She smiled.

It was already late in the day, and with the hangover and ghost wounds still very strong, the two took it easy and even ordered food in.

While they were waiting, Wraith took the opportunity to shower as well. It was a wonderful feeling to have a place to clean up that wasn’t used by a plethora of people. Or being afraid that they would try and invade her space. Mirage chatted for a while, but the more he tinkered at the table, the quieter he got. Till eventually his words ceased. Occasionally he would put the piece back onto his body and try and project an illusion but it would come out flickering. This would earn a curse, then more tinkering. Wraith spent the majority of the day either napping or walking around outside so she could get familiar with the area. It still felt surreal that she had somewhere to go to.  
In fact at one point she panicked because she didn’t have her bag on her but when she touched the side of her coat the keys to the apartment were there and she breathed easy. The Voice had been quiet all day, which was a blessing. 

When she’d walked off her nerves, Wraith went back to Mirage’s apartment and let herself inside.

Mirage was standing right next to the door, arms folded and that charming smirk of his.

The woman withheld her urge to punch him in the face for scaring her, “Yes... Mirage?”

“Ah nothin’... I was just wating for the delivery guy... but you walked in instead.”

“Does... the delivery guy have a key to your apartment? Because if they do we’re gonna have to talk...”

“Nah... although some delivery guys are gals and I wouldn’t mind them to have a key.” He walked close to her... a little too close.

Wraith backed up a couple steps but he matched her.

“Is... something a matter, Mirage?”

She heard it before she felt it.

The sound of a buzzing followed closely by a curse right behind her.

The illusion in front of her shimmered and dissipated, the real Mirage faded back into view with a highly unamused look on his face. He grabbed the device off his left arm where it had been damaged, revealing some fresh burns.

“Damn it, I thought I fixed the circuit damage.” 

Wraith couldn’t help but smile and received a scrunched up face of disaproval from the man. He had time of course to fix it, the next games wouldn’t be till the end of the month.

“You are going to be an odd room mate.”

“Heh... look who’s talking.” He booped her on the nose gently.

Wraith would say he was an odd duck but then she had to look at herself.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I experienced an unusually long stint of depression, but i'm back! Fear not Wraith/Mirage fans!

Mirage was oddly perceptive so long as his ego wasn’t being stroked like in the Apex Games. The job he had her do was quite behind the scenes and she rarely went to where crowds of people clustered and hooted and hollared at each other. Something she really appreciated. One on one conversation she could handle, a crowd of drunk people not so much. 

The Legend was just as much a showman in the bar as he was in the Arena, charming the men into laughter and the girls into hopeless sighs. Even pouring drinks was very flashy the few times she saw him do it.

And of course there were stories, oh so many of Mirage’s stories that he blew up into dramatic proportion and made the crowds whoop in excitement. The Trickster was the life of the party in his little world. 

She envied him.

He seemed so sure of who and what he was (Even if it was exaggerated). 

Wraith finished helping the cooks clean up at the end of the night just before dawn. She dragged a garbage bag outside and dumped it into the automatic dispenser that would take it away. For a moment she paused and looked up between the buildings where the stars twinkled calmly.

The work had been nice, keeping her mind busy so that she didn’t get wrapped up chasing her own tail of anxieties in a circle. The Voice occasionally piped up about the island and its answers but for the moment, there was nothing she could do. 

She felt at a lost on what to do.

The island was so big and the times she had access to it were not ideal.

Wraith wiped the sweat off of her brow and went back inside. 

The majority of the patrons had filtered out with some holding conversations long into the closing hours. Wraith went to Evan who was splitting the tips and he offered her portion with a smile and a sarcastic quip. 

Wraith noticed Mirage at the end of the bar having a chat with a woman who’d been fluttering her eyes at him more than drinking in the past few hours. He seemed. Very interested in the signs she offered. 

Wraith turned away and checked out for the night.

The living room at the apartment had become a little bit of a nest, she learned that Mirage had another room but it was just full of stuff that he hadn’t bothered to do anything with. He didn’t seem to be in a hurry to move any of it either. 

It wasn’t that much of an issue, the only time he was in the kitchen was when he was working on his rig or cooking. Wraith was surprised to learn that Mirage loved to cook, though if he didn’t have his bar or the Apex games Wraith really couldn’t see him being a chef for a living. He loved attention on himself too much. 

The Trickster wasn’t home when she arrived, not that she expected him to be.

Why should she expect him to be?

Wraith cleaned up then grabbed some water before plopping down on the floor in front of the couch. In the past few weeks she’d collected some books to fill her time when she wasn’t wandering around the city. 

That was one thing she couldn’t do, was sit still. She always had to be doing something productive, whether it be filling her head with academics or just stories. She really liked the stories.

Maybe because she wasn’t so sure about her own.

She had no story to tell.

Or just a short one she wasn’t willing to tell.

Wraith shook the rising memories of the facility away and focused on her book.

At some point she fell asleep, slumping against the side of the couch with the book on her stomach.

Something tickled her neck which startled her awake. Rubbing the tingling from her neck she glanced around but saw no one.

Then a chuckle sounded out of nowhere.

Her hair bun was given a playful tug as Mirage became visible, “Rise and shine noobie, time for training!” He’d somehow came back home without Wraith noticing.

“I see you fixed it.” She snorted.

“Yeah mostly, waiting on some parts to help prevent it from further damage. Should be here before the next game.” He looked strange in his regular clothes with his rig.

Wraith realized what he’d said, “Training? What do you mean?”

“For the games noobie, we’ve been slacking enough.” Mirage picked up her coat and tossed it in her direction, “Tick tock.” He ran back to his room to get something.

Wraith couldn’t help but notice a strange sweet smell in the air that didn’t belong. She was pretty sure it was the perfume from the woman at the bar. 

She scrunched up her face and pushed the smell out of her nose.

Due to the nature of their quasi night life, it was early evening when they stepped out of the apartment. Mirage in a particularly chatty mood as they went, practically skipping. Wraith couldn’t help but smirk a little at his energy. 

Though at the same time she felt uncomfortable by it. This strange confliction of emotions concerned her but she wasn’t exactly sure why.

They reached one of the Apex training facilities, this one had a massive gun range and sparring arena. Various competitors were there getting reacquainted with guns.

“Woohooo!” 

Wraith ducked when Pathfinder went careening through the air just above them, shooting his hook out to snag another surface to keep his momentum going.

“He says he’s calibrating his equipment when he does that.” Bangalore said, walking up behind them wearing neat but comfortable clothing, ciggerate in one hand.

“If he is it looks like fun.” Wraith chuckled, watching the unit disappear into the distance.

She realized a few people were missing from Mirage’s usual crew, “Where’s Lifeline?”

“She usually doesn’t show up till the last week... if that. She is still a working medic after all.” Bangelor explained. The dark woman went over to a gun rack and picked a few of the weapons out before heading to the nearby table.

Wraith knitted her brow together, “A combat medic has time for these games?”

“She uses the money she makes to donate to the needy. That’s the reason she does it.” Bangelor explained.

“Right right enough about Lifeline.” Mirage picked up an alternator and shoved it into Wraith’s hands, “Let’s get started noobie.”

They started with the weapons they were going to use in the arena, small ones at first (a few jokes about her stature were involved). Wraith was surprised to find that there was more to shooting a gun than just spraying it. Mirage showed her different ways to help with accuracy and keeping the gun from injuring its owner. Many of these tips reminded Wraith of how her grip had been so tight on the weapons the first few times, her hands actually hurt afterwards. Now she was armed with the knowledge to prevent these things. 

A few hours later, they returned from the shooting range, smelling of gunpowder and sweat despite the setting sun. Wraith had just tried out the Longbow, a gun that had nearly knocked her off her feet due to her poor footing. Her shoulder would be hurting for days.

“I told you if you put one foot slightly in front of the other you’d be fine.” Mirage patted her on the head jokingly.

“Yeah well... I thought it was far enough.”

“Not for that gun.”

“It’s also better to rest the muzzle on something to help with accuracy... unless you’re Pathfinder that bitch can hold guns up for days.” Bangelor frowned in annoyance.

Inside the building they were met with the jolly laughter of Gebralter who waved them over. Wraith was happy until she saw who else was there.

Bloodhound was dwarfed by Gebralter’s size even without his heavy armor, yet was no less intimidating. Sharp eyes cast over them quickly before turning back to their bird. The crow fluffed its feathers adoringly at its master, accepting a little treat that was offered.

“I won’t be around for next game, brudahs.” Gebralter was saying.

“Awww we’ll miss you and you’re.... stupid.... stupid bombardments.” Mirage folded his arms but his eyes were smiling.

“Come on you love them.” The large man laughed.

“Even when they’re on my side they suck. They put dirt in my hair.” 

Wraith tried and failed to suppress her chuckle at Mirage’s pouting. He gave her a grumpy side glance.

“How are you doing Wraith?” Gebralter gave her arm a light bump, “Nice to see you on the range!”

“I’m doing alright. Just getting ready for the next game.”

“Eh you’ll do fine! You haven’t quit after the first few games. I think you’ll survive just fine.”

“Surviving and winning are two different things.” Bloodhound said casually.

“They usually go hand in hand though.” Mirage answered. 

“Not everyone is capable of both.”

Wraith frowned and stepped forward, “Do you have a problem with me?” She finally blurted out.

Bloodhound tilted their masked face up toward her. An uncomfortable silence fell around the table.

The legendary tracker stood up, bird hopping up onto their shoulder, “You have proven nothing out on the battle field, you do not have an identity to yourself. You flail about, grasping at things which you can’t have. You do not have the Allfather’s blessing.”

Wraith felt her face grow red, pulse rising.

“You don’t know who or what I am.” She growled.

Bloodhound chuckled, “You don’t seem to know either, nýfætt. You think you haven’t been watched during your scrapes around the city? Or in the arena, nobody wants someone who’s afraid of dying.”

The notion that she’d been followed and watched without her even remotely realizing it turned her blood cold quickly.

“A’ight that’s enough shit talking.” Bangalore stepped in, “Bloodhound, let’s go test out some of those prototypes the Gameskeepers mentioned.”

The tracker nodded without another word and followed the ex soldier out. Wraith realized she’d been gripping the table so hard her knuckles had turned white.

“Don’t let them get to ya noobie. Bloodhound is harsh on everyone.” Mirage said quietly for once.

Ignoring him, Wraith stormed out of the building back to the shooting range. Mirage looked helplessly at Gebralter who merely raised an eyebrow at him.

Outside, the lights had turned on automatically to stall the coming of the night. The recent storms had given way to waves of bugs crowding around the bulbs.

Without looking she picked up the nearest weapon (which happened to be the r301) and set up to shoot the targets. 

Her accuracy reflected her mood. Fingers twitching uncontrollably from her angrily pumping heart. Every little thing made her jump, from the fly that landed on her neck to the sound of the weapon.  
When the third magazine was empty she slammed the object on the table in front of her, teeth clenched and breathing shallow.

“What’s got you so worked up?” 

Mirage was leaning up against the wall behind her. She wasn’t sure how long he’d been there.

“Nothing.”

“Uh huh.”

The urge to chuck the nearest object at him rose in her but was suppressed quickly.

“Bloodhound is full of shit... I’m not afraid of death.”

“I know.”

She frowned at him.

“You’re sleeping on death’s couch is how I know.” Mirage shrugged, “Like I said, you shouldn’t let Bloodhound get to you. He’s... I mean they’re like that to everyone who’s new to the games.”

Wraith could feel the electricity crawl up her arms, holding back her urge to use what made her special. She hadn’t used it since her escape of the asylum. For it terrified her.

She looked back at the mess of targets and reloaded the gun. 

Instead of shooting though she just stood there, shaking. Mirage’s silence for once was a great irritation. She wanted to spill out her whole story... or what little she knew of it. Yet she was afraid that it would all be rejected as nonsense. 

“They’re not wrong... I don’t know who I am.” She finally said, “As far as my memories go I was just born into this world through torture and abuse. I can’t remember anything beyond that.”

“A checkered past.” Mirage responded after a moment.

“Something like that.” Wraith shouldered the weapon but still didn’t shoot.

“So, you’re angry because you feel like you’re a nobody. And Bloodhound is just poking the wound.”

It took every ounce of will power not to start crying in front of the Legend. Everyone had a past, some were less angelic than others, but at least they had one. They knew exactly who and what they were.  
Wraith didn’t expect Mirage to say anything. He was around people all the time whether in his bar or in the games. She was just another person in the sea of faces.

A pair of arms reached around her, adjusted her shoulders and one foot nudged her foot forward a few inches.

Mirage used his body to square up hers before taking a few steps back.

“Maybe Bloodhound’s right... maybe you don’t know who you are back whenever... it goes blank. That doesn’t mean you can’t make someone of yourself now.”

Wraith just stood there, so bewildered by the sudden closeness of Mirage’s body to hers that she nearly forgot what she was seething about.

Knowing her face was red Wraith strengthened her grip on the gun and popped off in single fire mode. Her desire to fight the warm feeling in her body made it so that she hit nearly every single one. 

Once the clip emptied she took a long deep breath. Taking in the lingering scent of gun powder. Mirage raised his eyebrows and whistled, “Well look at that, the noobie can focus.” He walked up next to her and clapped her on the shoulder, “I think that’s enough for today.”

“Yeah... yeah. Let’s go.” 

Part way back to the apartment Mirage parted ways, wanting to do some late night shopping for the bar. This was perfect for Wraith since she just wanted to be alone for a bit. Normally she would just take a walk for an hour or so but with Bloodhound's comment about being watched she headed straight home and locked the door. 

A cold shower helped cleanse the day, and the warm butterflies in her stomach ever since Mirage had touched her. It was the first contact she'd had with someone that wasn't struggle.

"It's not a big deal." Wraith told herself while drying her hair, "It's really not." 

It really was, Wraith could not shake the feeling of Mirage's body close to hers. The warmth had been pleasant, his well groomed beard tickled her cheek. The most memorable thing though was his smell. 

Wraith wanted to dunk her head under the sink faucet again.

"Focus. You have... an identity to recapture." she growled to herself. Wraith twirled her knife between her fingers, movements that she'd been practicing when her roommate wasn't around. It was time to stop sulking, it was time to make herself a future.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last time on Dragon Ball Z..... the author took a ridonkulous amount of time to update the fanfiction.... :D 
> 
> No fears my friends, this fic will be finished just not as quickly as I want it to. Just got... a lot happening in life. <3 Hope you all are having a wonderful week!

The Apex Games were a strange beast when it came to competition and fame. Wraith saw people come and go, some took their top five team earnings and left, others didn’t stay past their first ‘death’. She couldn’t blame them, the regeneration process was... well... ‘uncomfortable’ was not a good enough word to describe it. 

It wasn’t enough to deter her from fighting though. 

Wraith continued to fight in the next few games, slowly creeping her way up the listings as her skill in combat grew sharper. The respect for her amidst the ranks grew slowly with every fight. Yet there was something she noticed. 

The listings were made at random, or if you were to request certain people on your team. Even though Mirage, Bangalore and the rest of the top tier Legends cheered her on and helped her outside of the Arena they never offered her a place on their teams. 

Wraith fiddled with her dagger as she lay on her bed staring at the ceiling. 

Mirage had been kind enough to finally empty out the extra room so now she had privacy and a nice view of the cliff side city. The room was bare except for her few sets of clothes, bag and few books she’d decided to keep. Working at the bar had given her the luxury of having new clothes but despite Miage’s nagging about style she kept her purchases to a minimal. She didn’t trust her living situation to last long term so she saved all the currency she could. 

Wraith continued to twirl the blade between her hands, thoughts reflecting her movements.

She had to breach the top five winning circle. The other Legends managed to make it into a fantastic spectical on the way to the top. 

Her fiddling stopped.

She sat up, long dark hair falling over her shoulders as she shifted her gaze to the item in her hands. It glimmered a blue hue like looking up at the surface of the water. 

All of the Legends either had or had been offered a unique edge in the games because of their skills. Despite Wraith’s improvements in combat, she wasn’t anything special... or rather she was perceived as nothing special. Just another fighter on the playing field. 

She hadn’t given her edge to the fight.

An electric chill ran through her body, memories of the asylum rising. A painful lump rose in her throat. Did she really want to use her edge though. The last time she’d used it was to escape. What if she used it here and someone came to find her?

No, no this was the wrong place and the wrong... well mostly the wrong place. 

Pushing her hair behind her ears, Wraith pulled her ID card that let her gain access to the Apex Games rosters for the future events. She inserted the card into her mobile computer. 

The holographic keyboard and screen popping up with a melodic beep. A few moments passed while it checked her numbers and then allowed access. 

Wraith tapped her thigh and chewed her lip a moment. Then pushed herself to make a few requests for her future game. She thought about requesting Mirage but that idea was quickly squashed when she felt the heat rise in her face. 

Pride was not a thing Wraith believed she’d had until recently. Perhaps if Mirage wasn’t such a gloating punk out in the arena (and giving her a knowing smirk at home) she wouldn’t feel like she wanted to punch him in the face.

She looked up.

Home.

The idea both thrilled and frightened her. 

But really could she afford to grow soft in one place... what if she found something that led her away from what little of a life she’d created?

Wraith sighed, hit enter on her account and tossed the item on the corner of her bed. Exhaustion hit her, energy draining out of her body quickly. It was time to take a nap, she had a work shift that night and a boss that was too much in love with himself.

Another month came to an end and the streets began to buzz with tourists and excited locals with another Apex Game on the horizon. 

The Apex players all had to report two days early to the facilities in order to for the doctors to assess them and for the rosters to populate properly. Teams would get together and make plans, get to know each other... or not.  
Wraith opened up what had become her locker and shuffled through her clothes. Slowly she’d started acquiring more sturdy outfits that weren’t full of holes and worn out from another life. In fact, her old clothes were stuffed at the bottom of the locker. She paused for a moment before picking them up and then tossing them into a nearby trash can.

“What’s up sugar.”

Wraith jumped upon hearing Lifeline. The red haired medic sauntered on into the room, hair dangling loose around her shoulders. It looked like she’d just jumped off of a luxury cruise with how her skin glowed. Her little robot following her with her bag clipped to its underside.

“Lifeline... what are you doing here?”

“You requested didn’chya? I decided why not?” She winked before signaling her bot to drop her bag into her arms.

“Oh... oh!” Wraith wrung her hands together, “I didn’t think anyone would respond.”

Lifeline smiled her toothy smile, “I thought why not. You’re not annoying like some of the other competitors I know.”

“Thanks... I guess.” 

“Don’t mention it.” Lifeline set her bag down and opened it up to get her things in place. 

Their third team mate was late to show so they chatted mostly about recent competitors, both well known and newer ones. The center of the room contained a small pedestal that provided a holographic map of the island where the games were held. Wraith had never had a chat this long with Lifeline before. The medic never stuck around in between the games, still a practicing professional. Sometimes she didn’t show but when she did the crowds went wild.

The door filled with a shadow and Bangalore appeared, “S’up ladies.” She greeted them, tossing her bag on a nearby bench.

Two Legends on her team. This was certainly a strange day for Wraith.

“Bangalore how ya doin’ love!” Lifeline exclaimed, running over and giving the tall woman a giant squeeze. The ex soldier just submitted to the hug, giving an awkward pat on the shoulder in return. 

“Hungover. So good.” With practiced movements she sat down next to her stuff, pulled out a tinted drink and gulped it down. 

The dark skinned woman gave Wraith a side glance before looking back to Lifeline, “Better watch it, I saw Gibby in the hall on the way here.”

“Oh good I can repay him for the last match.” Lifeline chuckled.

Wraith ignored Bangalore’s indifference to herself. It helped that the ex soldier treated everyone with the same cold attitude. 

The holographic table fluttered with the announcements of who was going to show for this month’s Apex Game.

“We have a lot of heavy hitters this season.” Bangelor pointed out all the images, including her and Lifeline. Caustic was there, Pathfinder, Mirage, Gibraltar, and Bloodhound. 

“The more Legends the bigger the winnings.” Lifeline said as she brushed her hair and started to pull each side up into her classic bun look.

“That’s a thing?” Wraith asked.

“When you get Legend status you also get the lovely ball and chain known as sponsors.” Bangalore explained, “Of course they’ll want to incentivize their favorites... and make bets with their competitors.”

Wraith chewed her lower lip a bit before turning back to what she was doing. She noticed that her hands were shaking just a little bit. Not from nerves per se, but excitement. Lifeline and Bangalore were amazing fighters, she had a good chance at reaching the top three, get a chance at championship. Really though, she would be outshined by them at the same time. 

Wraith pushed the doubt from her mind. Why should she care about having the spotlight on her. It was enough to just win and wipe the smug look off of Mirage’s face every time he teased her.

At last the day came for the Apex Games to arrive. They all assembled on the airfield and loaded up into the ships. Of course they weren’t told which direction they would be approaching the island or where the hot zone would be, added to the excitement they were told. The back of the ships were all closed off to the outside world, meant to protect the occupants during close drops in their heyday of operation. It also meant they were blind during traveling. Wraith had gotten used to it more or less. Not knowing where you were going was just something the Void always made you feel.

With a last check and a wave of their hand, the load master opened up the back ramp, allowing wind and light to flood into the small area. Lifeline walked up to the edge with a large grin on her face as King’s Canyon spread out before them. 

Bangalore followed with a little more reservation, gripping the safety rope till her knuckles were white. A detail Wraith would’ve missed had she not been rocked by some turbulence in just the right way. 

“Alright girls, let’s win dis ting!” Lifeline gave them one last glance before leaping off of the ship. 

Their drop zone was just off to the side of the highlighted area so they were able to pick up weapons and armor quickly before sweeping into the next area where they’d heard gunfire before. 

Dust and the coppery scent of blood caked in Wraith’s nose as she carefully proceeded forward. Her eyes darting from one potential hiding place to another. The sun was just peeking over the horizon so the heat wasn’t too bad yet on the island. It hadn’t rained for a month now, dirt was thick in all the nooks and crannies. 

They found where the main scuffle had taken place, lifeless bodies lay abandoned and what loot there had been had vanished.

Bangalore took point and checked the immediate area before signaling the all clear. Wraith lowered her weapon and stepped out into the open, waiting, looking, and listening.

The Voices were quiet.

They were truly alone.

“Aw we missed the pre-game.” Lifeline glanced over one of the bodies, giving it a careful nudge with her toe. Satisfied that it was truly dead she relaxed.

“Just means we take more shots when we find it.” Bangalore poked around the area to see if they could find anything useful or if something had been missed. They ended up with better armor and some weapon attachments.  
The three women didn’t need to be a Bloodhound to track the stragglers of the hot zone battle. One competitor was huddled with their injured companion trying to get them back into the game. Another group tried to ambush them but Wraith warned them in time so they weren’t caught off guard.

Bangalore grunted in annoyance as she tossed a body off of herself and accepted Wraith’s hand to stand up.

“How’d you know they were there?” The ex soldier wiped the sweat from her brow.

“... I saw their foot.”

It wasn’t a total lie, the Voice had just warned her first, then she’d actually looked for the person trying to hide. 

“Good catch.” Bangalore spit out some blood, having been punched in the process of defending herself.

They were moving away from the the mountainous area and into the heavy woodlands part of the island. Wraith wondered how much of King’s Canyon was cultivated and what had been there originally in nature. 

Here they lost what little trails were left of the hot zone and now a new game started. 

The next few rings would determined who was seeking and who was running. 

“Champion’s still around.” Lifeline pointed out the blazing holographic posters, “He’s not tha kill leader though, that’s Gibby.”

“He’s having a good game then.” Bangalore picked up the pace just enough that Wraith had to do a light jog to keep up. She was not that tall of a person, she did better at sprinting than the long haul runs. 

They paused near a gnarly tree who’s roots had been exposed to the air from the high tides. There were patches of hidden mud in this area, underneath the dirt baked from the hot month. 

Lifeline knelt over her knees and tried to catch her breath.

SNIPER!

Without hesitating Wraith leaped and knocked a surprised Lifeline off her feet just as a heavy bullet split through the air where the medic had just been standing.

The bullet sent a shower of cool mud over them as they scrambled for cover, Bangalore dodging just behind the tree.

“So help me god if that’s Pathfinder again.” Wraith snarled as she readied her weapon. The robot had the ability to get places that a lot of them couldn’t. It made him quite the nusance on the battle field. 

“Shiiiit.” Lifeline growled. 

Wraith turned and saw that Lifeline had not escaped without injury, her arm split wide open allowing blood to pool over her clothes.

“Don’t worry just find the bastard.” Lifeline summoned her robot to help mend her wound.

This was the hardest part of playing the sniper’s game was figuring out where the shooter was.

“In the field when I was swerving with other ground pounders, it would take at least three shots before we knew where they were firing from... by that time two or more of us could be dead.” Bangalore shifted her weight so she could see the bullet hole left in the mud, “In this case we’re lucky.” The semi softness of the dirt allowed to show which direction the bullet had come from.

“You got quite the spine chill, Wraith. I can appreciate that.” Bangalore said from her hiding spot.

It was the closest thing she’d ever gotten as a compliment from the ex soldier. Wraith would take it.

The forest was on a sloped hill that eventually drained out into the lake during the wetter seasons. The sniper and most likely their team were up on the ledges against the mountain. 

Wraith flinched when she saw Lifeline do a crude sewing job and then shoot up her arm with nanytes in a med kit, allowing for the wound to close up quickly to at least stop the bleeding. 

“This fuckin’ sucks.” The medic growled, the wound had stopped bleeding but a good chunk of flesh was now missing. 

Wraith glanced around, nearby was a lot of houses on stilts, probably where the island workers lived when the games weren’t playing.

“I got a dumb idea, Bangalore.” Wraith called.

There was a pregnant pause, and a concerned look from Lifeline.

Wraith pulled out her map and pinged an area that lead around the mountain, “Bait and switch. Let them chase me and you guys get the high ground!” 

Bangalore glanced at Lifeline who jerked her chin in a grim nod, “Keep your head down, Wraith. You’re already doing something stupid.” The medic warned. Leaving off on your own was just asking for your death in this game. Wraith was hoping that this idea would pan out.

Bangalore nodded and pulled out a fire grenade, “On my mark newbie.”

Wraith took a deep breath to bring her heart rate down. She positioned her body, tense like a coil ready to spring.

The dark skinned soldier primed the grenade, then in one smooth motion chucked it straight up into the air, pulled out her weapon and shot it.

The air suddenly billowed with smoke and fire rained down all around them.

Wraith thrust all of her power into her legs and took off across the open ground.

The ricochet of a bullet blew up the mud just where she’d just been, the shooter having been distracted by the explosion and scrambling to reaquire her. Wraith ignored the fireflies that singed her shoulders and cheeks.  
Bullets were starting to fly both directions, another grenade cracking the air in half. Lifeline and Bangalore taking advantage of their opponents positions being given up in their scramble to try and kill Wraith.  
A tree exploded next to Wraith’s head, a pain filled scream escaping her lips as splinters imbedded themselves into her shoulder. This did not slow her down as she heard someone scrambling on the ledge above her. 

The air filled with a strange echoing snarl.

Wraith hissed a curse and picked up her pace. This sound was an infamous one amidst the competitors. It meant that Bloodhound was on the hunt, and they were confident they were going to get their prey.  
Once she found cover she readied her weapon and peeked around the corner firing blindly. The red eyed shadow pursuing her dodged easily. The moment of stillness she’d bought was short lived and again she was sprinting to avoid a grenade. It fell short because of a low growing branch and that alone saved her from the concussion.

Wraith slipped across a stretch of mud and leaped onto a nearby ladder leading up to a house on stilts, scrambling to get to cover before Bloodhound got within line of sight.

This time she wasn’t quit fast enough and the pitch of a G7 was quickly followed by Wraith’s yelp of pain.

Gritting her teeth against the urge to curl up and cry, Wraith staggered and slipped behind an opened loot crate. Her side was ripped open and spilling precious blood down her leg. 

Above her in the tree tops the crow, Artur she’d learned it was called, hopped from one branched to another, tilting its head in a knowing way. Wraith hated that bird so much. 

There was a small gap between her and the building, the only cover she could afford to get to. Pulling out a syringe, she shot up with the nanytes that numbed the pain and slowly began to mend her wound. Holding her flesh together so that the miniature robots could do their work was the most horribly itchy feeling. 

She could hear Bloodhound walking along the catwalk, the creaking of wood and ropes pausing with the person’s movement. 

“Come out and face your death, hræddur fugl, the gods do not favor you today.” Bloodhound said.

Wraith could still hear fighting in the distance, “I dunno... still sounds like we have a chance.” She grunted, the blood flow starting to slow at last. 

“They have already proven themselves, teaming up with you is a charity.” 

Her face burned with anger, energy surging through her body, eyes starting to glow. The edges of her vision were starting to lose color. 

No no no she couldn’t just release it in a frantic rage, that would do her no good.

Above she heard Artur chitter and caw, feathers bristling at her.

Wraith pointed up and shot at the bird.

The branch exploded causing Artur to screech in fear, broken feathers and wood falling in every direction. 

A rush of footsteps rattled the catwalks, Wraith took the opportunity to bolt from her meager hiding spot and slammed the door in Bloodhound’s face.

Glass shattered, a heavy blade sticking through the door. Did this legend have an axe??

She didn’t have time to examine what was busting through the door, the red eyed killer was blazing with anger now. Wraith knocked over a nearby empty shelf to block the door and bolted.

The Voices were rising out of the corner of her mind, demanding that she make the leap.

Bloodhound saw her run again this time for the back of the long building. They ignored the stuck door and ran around to try and catch the runner with their gun.They skidded around the corner, raising their weapon and then.... stopped.

The prey’s red footsteps had vanished just at the back opened door.

Bloodhound kicked in the door and looked around, stepping lightly, ready to spring. The footsteps just stopped, but no one was there. 

Temper still pumping in their veins, Bloodhound dropped down into the soft earth below the silted house to see if she’d jumped down below and hid.

Nothing, the only disturbance was their own feet in the dirt. 

Bloodhound broke their chase as Artur glided down to its partner, clumsily plopping down onto their arm, a few flight feathers bloody and broken. The bird made a few gentle sounds in its throat.  
“Hey! Bloodhound!” Mirage came running down from the cliffs, out of breath and dirty from what one could only assume was a hand to hand scuffle, “Did you get her?”

“No.” They said slowly.

His eyebrows rose, “What? I thought you were super hunter tracker or... something.”

“You don’t look like you’ve had much luck yourself.” Bloodhound gently flicked Mirage’s bloody chin.

“Listen... Lifeline’s drone hurts when she clocks you with it.” Mirage snorted.

Bloodhound took one last look around the area, their vision fading, “Let’s go... the ring will eat them.” They turned back to Artur, trying to comfort the injured bird before walking briskly away from the site.  
Mirage glanced around as well, wiping the blood from his tender chin. Bruising already turning his skin into an ugly black and blue.

“Rent’s due on the fourth, noobie!” He shouted before following his team mate.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huzzah! It's not a million months later! <3

Wraith finally took in a huge breath of air when Mirage finally left. Her arms and legs were burning, and her stomach was threatening to empty its contents. Carefully, the young fighter unwrapped herself from the rafters of the building she’d never left. She’d managed to use her power after nearly a year or so of inactivity. At the very last second the Voices had demanded it and she’d listened. Her skin was still sparking with bits of light.

Carefully she dangled down and dropped to the floor, which was quite a long way for someone of her height. She didn’t have time to really gather herself, the ring was on the move.

Wraith’s head swam dangerously for a minute or two before finally clearing up at the crest of the first hill. In the distance she could hear more fights being initiated as the ring forced hiders out of their holes. 

“Focus.” Wraith said to herself. She had to get back with Bangelor and Lifeline if they were still alive.

Her secret was out. 

Maybe not to the current fighters, but everyone watching them had most likely seen her dip through thin air from one place to another. The crowd was nowhere near but she could feel their eyes on her. 

Wraith stumbled her way as fast as she could over the rough terrain, praying that she wouldn’t happen upon another team. At one point she could feel the sizzle of the ring at her heels. The young woman wanted to use her powers again but she wasn’t sure she had the strength to just do it willy nilly.

Just when she started to smell the singing of clothes and the heat on her back the ring finally ceased its movement. She kept walking a few more feet before collapsing against a nearby empty loot crate.

The sun blazed against her dirt streaked face, reminding her of how thirsty she was. Her small pack she was allowed to carry with food and a canteen had been shot off at some point so was lost. 

“Hey!”

Wraith jumped and grabbed her weapon.

“Whoa whoa whoa! It’s me!” Bangalore held up her arms.

She relaxed, “Oh... sorry.” A sigh easing her muscles. 

The ex soldier climbed up to her partner and offered a hand, yanking Wraith to her feet, “Don’t have time to slow down, come on noobie.” The other woman was covered in bruises and cuts but didn’t show any signs of easing up her pace. She barely allowed Lifeline time to patch up Wraith before ushering them along.

The arena had gone silent, that horrible pause where teams were trying to get into the most advantageous positions without getting caught. The trio stopped atop a small cliff and finally settled, waiting for any movement from the other teams.

Lifeline took the moment to repair her drone, it had a huge dent in it that Wraith didn’t bother asking about. 

“How’d you escape Bloodhound?” Lifeline asked from where she was tinkering, “It’s not easy to escape the master of the hunt.” She stretched the last set of her words.

“Uh...” Wraith fidgeted with her weapon, “I... just had a trick up myself they weren’t expecting.”

“You didn’t shoot Artur did you?” Bangelor asked from where she lay prone to look over the area.

“I mean... it was giving me the stink eye.”

Bangelor sneered against her scope, “That it does. Good luck next time you see Bloodhound.”

The ring started forcing conflict between the competitors with the ever shrinking space. Teams that had lost people early on were taken care of quickly and soon Wraith realized they were in the top five teams still alive. 

The sound of a large fight on the other side of the mountain could be heard. They wanted to participate but the ring was moving again. 

A flash of light filled the sky as it opened up, laying down a bombardment of explosives just out of site. The announcer boards suddenly flashed with several people down and out of the game.

Gibraltar had just wiped two teams out.

“A big man with big results.” Lifeline chuckled.

Top three.

“Let’s get this win, ladies.” Bangalore said.

The final destination was the old abandoned airport on the west side of the island. They settled on the north side on top of the buildings, sun beating on their faces. it would soon be low enough that the mountain would cut its light short. 

At long distances Wraith had seen short jump ships land at this airport. How the games got permission just to just damage anything they wanted was beyond her. Were they really making that much money off of the viewers of the blood sport?

The air was still, smelling of rotting sea weed. 

Wraith’s eyes scanned the edge of each building she could manage to see from their position. Water could be heard crashing against the sharp rocks below. Lifeline shifted somewhere behind her, trying to get comfortable with her partially healed wound.

An angry scream shattered the silence.

One might expect the scream to be off to the side or below them or even across the air port. 

Wraith whirled aroun in time to get a cloud of rocks and dirt kicked into her face as Lifeline slammed against the wall behind them getting dragged by a line. The claw had attached to her backpack which had a clip across her chest. 

Bangalor reacted fast with both of her team mates incapacitated, spraying the edge of the cliffside with bullets to scatter the intruders, covering them in a sheet of smoke all while running to catch up with Lifeline, catching her by the arm.

The line squealed and grew taught, making it near impossible to unlatch the clasps.

“Wraith!!” Bangelor yelled.

Tears were not enough to clear the stinging in her eyes, all Wraith saw was a blur of shadows struggling against being pulled up the cliff face. Pathfinder was strong though, built with the intention to haul loads much heavier than two small women, he just needed the correct angle.  
Still half blind, Wraith stumbled up to them and grabbed on to Lifeline’s pack. The poor woman was screaming in pain from the tug of war. 

“Watch out.” She gritted her teeth and pulled out her knife, sawing against the heavy duty straps. Bangelore placed her gloved hand against Lifeline's neck and ate the damage that would've happened from the whiplash. 

All three women crashed into a pile of confusion, above Wraith heard a loud oddly happy yelp of surprise and then a tumble of metal against stone. 

Wraith turned at the sound of footsteps and her heart stopped when she stared down the barrel of a R301.

Luckily that wasn’t the only thing that stopped.

Mirage’s eyebrows screwed up in confusion, but before a word could escape his mouth about her still being alive she grabbed the muzzle and shoved it up and knocked him against the cheek. 

There was a flurry of movement and light and just a lot of bullets flying. Mirage had disappeared in front of Wraith but when she went to grab where she thought he would be her hands closed over air, that odd tingle shooting up her arms as one of the illusions crumbled under her touch. 

Smoke billowed out all around them, Bangalore grabbing Wraith by the arm as she ran, Lifeline pulled up on one of her shoulders. 

Sniper!

It wasn’t Pathfinder, she could hear complaining about something somewhere above them. The third team was taking pot shots at them from across the airport. 

“Fuck this match I can’t catch a break!” Lifeline growled, Bangalore pulling some gauze apart with her teeth to do a quick patch job while the other teams started shooting at each other. 

The team was stuck between a crate, a wall and the open sea. Wraith did not see them coming out of this with a good ending. 

Blood sprayed as Pathfinder hit his mark on the other side of the air field.

Wraith turned to Bangalore, “You still have your bombs right?”

“Yeah... why?” Bangalore looked up when they heard the growl of the Hunter spark to life.

“I need you to trust me, both of you, I need you to drop those bombs right on top of us.”

“You are crazy! A draw is not going to win us this fight! The games people don’t pay when there’s a draw.”

“Bangalore please!” Wraith gritted her teeth.

“No!” Bangalore reloaded her weapon and made sure her Peacekeeper was pumped. She pulled Lifeline to her feet, the woman barely able to hold a gun steady with all of her injuries. 

Electricity sparked all along her arms, Wraith felt the call of the world between. Her eyes lit up with light.

Steadying her breath, she turned and gripped the air with both hands... and pulled them apart. The motion giving her a sort of grounding to what she wanted to do. 

The air winked weakly at first, as if uncertain in what she wanted. Wraith closed her fingers into fists and poured as much energy as she dared into the rift and suddenly the tear blazed open. She barely heard her teammates cries of shock and confusion behind her.

Wraith could feel her body emptying quickly of whatever it used to fuel these portals. She looked back at Bangalore, “Trust. Me.” She demanded.

Bangelore still didn’t seem certain, she was a soldier after all. She only dealt in absolutes, it made sense. In all of her time as a soldier when she met something strange there would be a whole squadron to combine their brains and solve the problem. They also usually weren’t thrown at peculiar things like this.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, Lifeline. 

Bangelore looked once more at Wraith, nearly engulfed with light from the portal behind her.

“A’ight, droppin’ the pain.” The ex soldier yanked a canister from her vest and stripped its cap, a harsh hissing sound sneaking from its top.

As soon as she tossed it out into the open a heavy figure dropped down near them, red eyes blazing.

Lifeline shoved Bangelore out of the way and took the shot straight to the chest going down for the last time. Without pausing Wraith caught Bangelore and ducked through the portal just as the sky dropped down its artillary. 

The world drowned in silence. Color had no place here in between worlds. 

Wraith held on to Bangelore for the woman’s safety as much as for her own comfort. She’d only traveled this place once, and that was to escape death.

“Just follow me.” Wraith said, the echoe of her voice masking her uncertainty. They walked briskly across the air field looking for a place to hide. Wraith was nearly knocked off her feet when Bangelore jumped out of the way of a dropping artillary bomb.

“It’s ok! Keep going!” She continued to drag the shaking woman along even as the ordinance began to explode. Her energy was beginning to run thin, she had to pick a place fast.

“What.. is that??” Bangelore pointed at the mirror. Or at least that’s what Wraith called it, she wasn’t exactly sure what it should be called. It showed them, but it kept going on and on and on... with no end in sight.

A spot of color caught Wraith’s shimmering eye.

Wraith pulled Bangelore away from the mirror, picking up her pace from a brisk walk to a sprint. She was starting to feel heavy, like she was stuck in a drain and the water was sucking her back down.

The two popped out of the air on the furthest side of the air field, closest to the ocean, with only a decommissioned air ship for cover.

Wraith’s whole body was trembling from the strange jolts of energy coursing through her veins. She looked over at Bangelore on the ground next to her, shivering hard and breathing out a few misty breaths. A bit of her sweat had turned to a light frost against her neck. 

No sun existed where they’d just been.

Smoke was still hovering over the air field from the carpet bombing. Gaping holes in the concrete revealed low tide, sharp rocks worn through by water and time. 

Kneeling down to rest, Wraith checked the board. The champion team was still up, but it wasn’t complete anymore.

“Hey... hey get up!” Wraith reached over and shook Bangelore. The ex soldier jerked herself up to a sitting position, her skin looking very pale.

Bangelore gave her team mate a look, “What the hell was th-.”

A shadow darted around the corner and shot Bangelore right in the chest.

The red eyes turned on Wraith and without thinking she dove through the void on top of the ship.

Bloodhound hesitated but their confusion was short lived as Wraith dropped on top of them, sending both of them tumbling across the ground. Bloodhound’s weapon went tumbling into the abyss below but Wraith didn’t have time to take advantage of this with her own. Bloodhound was a seasoned fighter, having no gun was not the end of the world to them.

Wraith dodged a swipe of an axe then parried a blade with her own.

Jump!

She teleported straight through Bloodhound as they tried to kick her in the knee. 

Wraith fell to one knee, lungs burning with trying to keep up with the seasoned Hunter. She turned and looked at Bloodhound who was whirling around to face her.

“Forvitinn...” said Bloodhound, twirling their axe expertly, “The elskan has tricks up her sleeve.” Snarling like an animal the Hunter sprinted forward and engaged her again. Wraith went on the defensive, trying her best to keep the whirlwind of blades at bay.   
Wraith went for a stab but Bloodhound was faster, catching her wrist in between the haft and blade of their axe then twisted. Wraith screamed as she was forced to her knees, the simple twist causing a tremendous amount of pain in her joints.

Bloodhound held her hostage now, not even straining to keep her in place, “Tricks will not save you, stelpa. You have too much fear in your eyes.”

“That’s not fear you see.” Wraith growled through gritted teeth. 

They tilted their head in a huff of amusement, “Then vat is it?”

Her eyes glowed, “That’s desperation.”

With one last pull at her strength, Wraith teleported again and this time when she turned to face Bloodhound she threw her knife as hard as she could, planting it right in between Bloodhound’s eyes.

The Hunter crumbled to the ground.

Breathing hard, Wraith walked slowly over to the body. She meant to bend over and pull the knife out but she was so weak that she just fell to her knees.

A breeze finally came off the water, clearing up the dust and smoke.

Wraith put her hand on her knife and tried to pull but her body just couldn’t obey her demands.

An alarm sounded, the ring was moving.

Heart hammering in her chest, Wraith looked around in desperation. Where was the last team? 

There, on the other side of the airfield, Gibraltar stood with his sniper rifle on his shoulder just watching her. He gave her a tight lipped smile and a wave.

A loud buzz filled Wraith’s ears before her body burned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean... what did you expect? It's a battle royale xD


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huzzah! Some fluffs! :D Cuz we need some floofs in this time of worry. <3 cheers loves! Hope you enjoy!

With how regularly the arena warriors visited death’s door you’d think a person would get used to the nothingness of death.

It was just as terrifying to pull away from it every single time.

Just reaching a state of dreamy consciousness was like breaking the surface of water after your lungs had nearly burst. 

This was when the nightmares started.

Wraith had decided they were nightmares anyway. Death didn’t allow you to care about who or what you were, since she hadn’t really had a past it didn’t bother her. But now, she’d been spending time living. Even if it wasn’t anything spectacular outside of the arena, it was living. 

These nightmares were of being strapped down, needles, pain and loss. Before the games it was just flecks of her past disappearing into the corners of her mind. Now it was everyone she’d met during her time in the Apex Games. The one she spent the most time with, the shadow turned and reached for her but disintegrated into the Void. The Voices grew so loud that Wraith just couldn't process anything they were trying to say...

A deep breath of air brought Wraith back to the world of consciousness. It took her several more breaths before her vision finally focused. 

Slowly she recognized the clean white and blue hospital room she'd woken up in... at this point... several times now.

Her first instinct was to leap up, get dressed and leave... but this time her body protested hard enough to make her want to vomit. With nothing in her stomach all she tasted was bile for a quick moment before quickly collecting herself. With wakefullness came the ghost wounds, this time the bullet wound and the far more pressing and uncomfortable tingling all across her body from the ring. 

Wraith closed her eyes and breathed in again, choosing a memory to focus on, just anything to keep the sensation from overwhelming her.

The memory just so happened to be Mirage leaning over his illusionary machine, face focused on making the repairs just perfect. It was the few times Wraith actually saw Mirage with a very... what was the word she wanted... was it concern? Worry? His brow would scrunch up like someone trying to remember something very important on a test.

"Wraith?"

A cool hand very gently touched her arm, the voice belonged to the kind nurse, Erica, that accommodated her nerves about being in a hospital.

"Wraith can you hear me?"

She nodded, the tingling starting to dull into a very uncomfortable crackle across her skin. 

Erica wiped a bit of sweat from Wraith's forehead, "I know you don't want to be in this bed, Wraith, but this time I really really recommend you take it slow getting out of it." she took out a small flashlight and checked her patient's eyes before doing a few other checks.

"O...ok." Wraith squeaked, throat dry except the leftover bile.

The nurse jotted down some notes before striding quickly over to a small sink and pouring some water into a paper cup, "From what I could tell, you pushed yourself a little too hard out there this time. We had to keep people from visiting you after your regeneration."

Wraith accepted the water gratefully, "Visitors?" she asked then lowered her cup, "Oh... visitors." the memory of her fight with Bloodhound came rushing back. Using her strange powers had now exposed her one secret to the public.

Her nurse had a smile mixed with concern in her eyes. It was obvious Erica wanted to ask further about it, but she was too kind of a person to invade Wraith's comfort.

Probably the only person on this planet that would not bother her about this ability.

A thought came to her, "Is Bangelore ok?"

"Last I heard she left right after treatment. She seemed... a bit disturbed."

"Yep... sounds about right." Wraith swallowed the last of her water. The ghost wounds had receded for now. Recovery from regeneration had become familiar at this point. The more you kept yourself busy the faster you forgot the old wounds.

Ignoring the prompt for further health tests, when Wraith felt well enough she got up and went to her locker where her stuff was waiting. The facility had been emptied of most of the competitors now that the game was over and any that gave her a questioning glance she returned with an absolute hostile glare to keep them at bay.

Inside the locker room Wraith found her clothes and quickly changed, already planning a route through the city that would allow her to avoid any prying eyes.

She'd finished tying her boots when her knife next to her abruptly lifted into the air.

"Ya know... if I'd known I had a super natural room mate I would've charged you a higher rent." The air shimmered to reveal the man examining her knife carefully, "Though for a supernatural room mate you certainly can miss some details." he smirked. Wraith had been so occupied with her thoughts she'd missed him step into the room. His invisibility   
Wraith huffed but turned her back to him to hide her blush.

The man chuckled, "Don't worry, I won't let you own the spotlight for long... you still didn't win noobie." he flipped the knife around and handed it over so she could grab it hilt first.

"Hmph... neither did you."

"I may have lost that one but-!" when she turned around he tapped her on the nose, "... still got more wins than you."

Wraith scrunched up her face and rubbed her nose to hide her blush, “What are you doing running around invisible anyway.” She asked quickly.

Mirage shrugged dramatically, “Because people kept following me around asking me questions since they know you work for me outside of the games.”

“Wait... they all know?”

“Well... enough of them.” Mirage slowed his pace so that she could catch up to him while stuffing her things into her bag.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Too bad... but I get it. We all have secrets.” 

Wraith wasn’t expecting that response, from Mirage of all people. Not only was he full of himself he was extremely nosy when it came to certain kinds of gossip. Perhaps this subject didn’t fall under his pressing nature?

Mirage led his room mate away from the main entrance of the hospital. Weaving through several different offices (mostly empty) and finally, a different less obvious exit on the furthest side of the compound.

“I mean... this makes sense... but why do YOU know about this?” Wraith asked in surprised. 

He shrugged, “I’m not allowed to wander around with my mind occupied? Only you’re allowed to?” He winked, “One of my ghost wounds involved a nasty knock to the head, I wandered off and the nurses didn’t notice for a while. In retrospect it was quite funny.” He nervously chuckled.

Outside the sun was high in the sky, hot in the windless day. The wind had not come off the water yet today.

Even so Wraith took in a slow deep breath of air and felt a little bit of anxiety ease out of her muscles.

“Thank you.” She said quietly.

“No problemo! Just ya know... figured since even after all this time you didn’t tell me that you’d not want to tell anyone else. Ya know... save you some wandering time.” Mirage stepped off to the side and then his face filled with intense pain, so harsh that he had to lean against the railing of the catwalk they’d come upon. His ghost would fro am mortor shell couldn’t have been pleasant.

Then again when was death ever pleasant. 

Wraith watched him struggle to breath for just a moment before reaching out and taking his arm to stabilize him.

Finally the wounded memory passed and Mirage straightened up, “Man... fuck Bangalore’s bombs... you know what fuck all of the bombs... just any ordin... ordriana.... explosions, those things. At least with Gibby’s his barrage is quick... hers is like... you sit trapped between them all and just sort of wait for them to blow.” 

“Haven’t had the pleasure... yet.” Wraith glanced toward home, “Want to order in?”

“Sounds good.” He stood there waiting. That was when she realized she was still holding on to him. 

She walked quickly ahead. 

Despite tracking through the less traveled paths in the city, you couldn’t avoid the massive holographic billboards that were cycling through their usual replays of the latest games. Despite the champion being Gibraltar, most of the clips Wraith caught were of her fight with Bloodhound. The flashes of inverted light as she slipped in and out of the air. One of the clips caught her face, pupils shining silver white.

Wraith pulled her hood over her head.

Once home, Wraith dropped her bag onto the floor and plopped onto the couch. Leaning back she sighed into the soft cushions. 

She was safe here, no prying eyes. No worry about being mugged... except by Mirrage’s occasional desire to have his ego stroked. It was funny, outside of the apartment Mirage was all about himself, but inside he was on the more quiet and thoughtful side. 

Wraith smirked.

Ok maybe not necessarily quiet but he was thoughtful in a way he wasn’t when other people were watching.

“What are you smiling about?”

She opened her eyes to see Mirage standing over her, offering a drink. 

The Legend sat on the other side of the couch with his own and drank a gulp, “Happy you finally shut Bloodhound up?”

“I mean... it certainly was a bonus to that fight.” A whiff of alcohol reached her nose but she didn’t mind. It seemed to be a tradition for the gladiators to get drunk after every game. 

“So you escaped Bloodhound the first time using your... super... super power huh?”

“Yup.” She drank.

“Huh... handy.”

“They can’t follow a trail that’s not there in the first place.” Wraith couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction. Bloodhound was one of the strongest contenders in the Apex arenas, and to manage to stump them was a huge win in her book. 

They drank just drank for a few minutes. 

Mirage went through a short fit of ghost pain but shrugged it off before turning on the television to just fill the silence. Neither of them really watched it, this was a period of time where they would just ride out the worst of the arena’s echos. 

One of the commercials was highlights from the recent games, of course showing off Wraith’s abilities. 

“It doesn’t hurt does it?”

She glanced over at him, “What? Oh... uh... I mean... not really?” 

“Not really?”

“Not really.”

“Uhhh...” Mirage watched her for a moment then shrugged and sipped his drink.

“Sorry... no one has ever asked me that before.”

“Why not? Seems like an important question.”

Memories trickled at first, then cascaded to the front of Wraith’s mind. Just bits and pieces of her being strapped down to chairs, blood spilling when she broke needles trying to escape, being struck down into submission. The Voices were a jumble of demands, causing fear to curdle in her heart.

Mirage watched Wraith’s eyes grow distant, then her face pale. 

“Wraith...?”

She didn’t seem to hear him.

Quickly Mirage set down his drink then reached over and pulled the poor shaking woman into his arms.

The flood of memories was suddenly interrupted by the feeling of warmth all around her and the strong but not unpleasant scene of cologne and alcohol. She took a moment to just exist in that warmth, a reminder that she was no longer bound to those tables of needles and shaded faces.

She didn’t know how much time passed, since she spent all of her energy to not cry.

“Uhm...” she finally said after a moment.

“Listen... it’s something my mom used to do when I got bullied a bit too hard by my brothers.” He abruptly pushed her away, “I mean I’m sorry it’s a bit invasive but you looked stressed I didn’t know what to say I just... did what I thought was right. Plus it’s me! Who doesn’t love a hug from lil old me!”

The room now felt a bit too cold without his arms around her. 

She cracked a timid smile before grabbing her cup and drinking a large gulp, “Thank you. I needed that.”

“No problemo.” He winked and snapped his fingers at her, “First ones free. Unlike rent.”

She rolled her eyes and stood up, “Oh my god let me go get your stupid rent right now!”

Mirage laughed, “No no I was just kidding! Come back!”

They spent the rest of the evening snacking, watching shows and drinking more. Wraith found it more pleasant than going out with the the rest of the Legends, though she’d come to enjoy their company. Here in the apartment she felt relaxed enough to doze off and just listen to the world around her instead of watching every corner and door for a shadow that just wasn’t there. Wraith blinked slowly as she stared at the ceiling. Was it the apartment or the company in it? She lifted her head to look at Mirage at the other end of the couch, head leaning heavily against one shoulder and eyes drooping.

Maybe it was both.

Sure Mirage was all about him, himself and he especially when it came to the Apex games, but when the show lights weren’t on him he was actually... dare she say... bearable.

His eyes actually closed and he sighed. Then his face scrunched up in pain and he convulsed only slightly. The waves were getting less and less frequent for the both of them. 

Now woken up from the ghost wound, Mirage stood up and stretched, well chiseled muscles standing out despite his shirt.

“A’ight Wraith... bed time.” He reached over and still managed to boop her on the nose gently, “Don’t stay up too late.”

Wraith scrunched up her face at his touch, settling down underneath her blanket.

“Hey.”

She stretched up to look at him in the hall entry way.

“If you need anything... let me know. I know you don’t like attention. But if you keep doing these games that’s all you’re going to get.”

Wraith managed to crack a small smile, “Thank you. Really... I mean it.” She settled back down, still trying to decide if she wanted to get up or go back to her room. Her head was going to swim as soon as she tried to stand up.

In the end she got up and stumbled tipsily to her bed.

The couch was too cold by herself.


End file.
